Flesh and Metal
by The Blade of Osh-Tekk
Summary: Rhys and Gaige were pretty alike. Metal arms, both technical geniuses, and a lot of other things. So it's only natural they'd be friends. How will that turn out?
1. Chapter 1 - Meeting Gaige

A/N: Been having my eye on doing this for a while, and I've decided to make a story off it. For now, this'll be a one shot. But it might be a story depending on the feedback. I'll leave that for you all to decide. Anyway, enjoy. P.S: This is not Out of the Comfort Zone Rhys(For any of you who follow that story line). This is normal, lucky to survive Rhys. Right at the beginning of Tales From the Borderlands.(Marked as complete until continuation is decided)

* * *

Rhys continued to eye the ECHO in his metal hand as he was walking. He was glad that he didn't run into anything that might try and kill him, which included a lot of things on this sinful planet.

 _"Alright Fiona, where are you hiding?"_ Rhys thought to himself as he walked. He still had his stun baton in his pocket, but that was pretty much all he had on him. No guns, no shields, no anything. It made him feel a little vulnerable, but he knew he had to do this.

Then Rhys saw that a gunshot had been fired near his feet, making him jump back and hide behind the rock that was close to him. Rhys damned himself for speaking too soon. But he didn't get a good look at whoever shot at him.

"I know what'll get you to come out and play," the voice said. Rhys frowned. It was a girl. But not only that. Her voice was pretty young. It wasn't scratchy or gruff like a bandit's was. Her's was young and gentle, though filled with conviction. You don't get many young people on this planet. Cause they're usually dead. But just like any other situation, it was either him or her. And Rhys was going to choose himself.

 _"Can't I go one day on this stupid planet without something or someone trying to kill me?"_ Rhys thought before immediately shaking his head. He knew that was an impossibility.

Then a robot with a menacing red eye came around the corner, making Rhys yelp in fear. If Rhys didn't move from the spot he was at, the robot would've clawed his head into bacon strips. Knowing Pandorans, they'd likely fry the strips like they were bacon. And eat them for lunch later.

But Rhys was in the line of sight of the girl, and she immediately started shooting at him with her Vladof pistol once he was. But Rhys was rolling around in the dirt to get away from the bullets and the killer robot. Somehow, it was working for him.

"Stand still, will ya?" the girl asked.

"Why would I do that?!" Rhys yelled back.

"Hmm. Good point," the girl said idly as Rhys heard a click from her gun. "Shit."

Rhys immediately took the opportunity to stand to his feet, draw his stun baton, and activate his ECHO eye to get an analysis on the robot. It was weak to electricity, making Rhys smile. How could she not make the robot grounded? That was a bit of an amateur mistake, but he'd take advantage of it.

"Come and get me, you hunk of junk!" Rhys exclaimed, making sure to take cover behind the rock so the girl couldn't shoot him.

The robot quickly flew at Rhys, its right arm raised for a strike that would turn him into paste, but Rhys ducked under the strike and prodded the robot in the side with it, causing it to fizzle a little. Even though he was standing up, the robot blocked the girl's view of him, so she couldn't shoot him without shooting her robot first. And that would only complete Rhys' job if she decided to go through with it.

Then Rhys jumped and stuffed his stun baton right in the robot's eye, causing it to spark and convulse erratically before disappearing. And his stun baton fell to the ground rather than disappearing with the robot, which was lucky for him.

"Deathtrap! You're starting to piss me off," the girl said. Rhys bit his lip. The stun baton was just about of his reach behind this rock, and she might be waiting for him. Dare he go for it?

Biting back a growl of fury, Gaige checked her ammo count. She only had about a hundred or so bullets left. And this Vladof was burning through her ammo faster than an unstable elemental core through a pistol. Which was almost instantaneous.

 _"Should've stocked up,"_ she thought, scolding herself for making a mistake like that. _"If I knew it was going to get this intense, I would've brought one of the others with me."_

But Gaige knew she was on her own. She figured sneaking up on him was the best decision she had, so she lowered herself into a crouch and slowly walked towards the bandit.

Rhys looked around the corner and didn't see her there. He then looked over at the stun baton and quickly went over to pick it up before getting back behind cover. At least he didn't get shot for his troubles.

Gaige quickly appeared on his left and she didn't hesitate in pulling the trigger. But unfortunately for her, luck was not on her side as that was the side Rhys was looking at that moment, and he was able to react fast and swing his stun baton.

It was a trade off - Rhys had got shot in his side by two bullets, but Rhys had disarmed Gaige of her gun and the brief electric shock sent an unpleasant sensation through Gaige. Unfortunately for her, her arm was not grounded and therefore, the electricity traveled through Gaige's entire body, even more deadly than the original voltage.

While Rhys was distracted by the pain of his bullet wound, Gaige managed to recover from her shock faster than Rhys could recover from his wounds and hit him with an uppercut to the jaw, knocking him flat on his back. But his metal hand had an iron grip on his stun baton, and he was not about to let go any time soon.

Gaige drew a Maliwan pistol and aimed it at Rhys, something akin to rage lining her young face.

"This is for Deathtrap asshole!" she exclaimed. But Rhys managed to quickly rise up and throw the stun baton directly into Gaige's chest, knocking her back a few meters like she was a crash test dummy.

"Fuck you," Rhys groaned as he held his human hand on his gunshot wound. It hurt like hell, but he knew he had to get up otherwise she'd just draw another gun.

Rhys saw his stun baton only was a few feet in front of him, so he crawled towards it and manged to grab it before rolling to the side and out of her sight.

Gaige groaned from the pain coming from her chest. That stun baton his her directly in her left breast, and it felt like some of the electricity shocked the crap out of it too. Gaige growled. She did not like how this fight was going. It wasn't over in a few gunshots like most fights with bandits. No, this one was frustrating her by not dying so easily. Maybe she should've just left him be. After all, he had not guns to fight with. If she didn't kill him, a bandit camp likely would've.

 _"Man, this bites,"_ she thought.

Gaige stood up with determination and moved around the rock to find him, deciding on summoning a Jakobs shotgun to shoot him. One shot is all she would need. But he wasn't there when she came around the corner, making her raise her eyebrows in surprise.

"Right here dumbass," Rhys said, peeking his head from around the bottom corner of the rock and grabbing her left leg with his metal one and tripped her up, causing her to let out a very girly scream and sending the shotgun flying.

"God, you are irritating!" Gaige exclaimed angrily as Rhys slowly rose to his feet, stun baton still in hand.

"Says the girl who attacked me for no reason," Rhys said calmly before prodding the stun baton on her metal arm. Gaige screamed as the electricity traveled through her body, even more deadly than its original voltage. She felt her nerves being lit on fire and she couldn't really summon the thought process to be able to think how was she was going to get out of this.

Then it was gone. She expected it to continue, but she didn't complain.

When she tried to get up however, her electrocution began again, leaving her a writhing wreck on the ground. Then it stopped again.

But what he had done to her was enough now. She could barely find the strength to move. She tried to use her ECHO to summon a health hypo for her to use, but she felt her ECHO being yanked off her and then her stomach was being pressed with a heavy weight. She turned only to see that Rhys was pinning her down, though he looked exhausted and half-conscious. He was also bleeding profusely from his gunshot wound. The blood drops that were staining her shirt could attest to that. But he was still in control.

"Just... let's call this a draw," Rhys panted. Gaige raised an eyebrow. She didn't really expect that statement. She was expecting a bullet to the head from her own, or a threat of torture, rape, or cannibalism. Cause let's face it, that was Pandora. So she couldn't resist not commenting on the subject.

"You... don't want to kill me?" she asked.

"I... really do. But... I'm tired of killing. I haven't done much of it, but I'm already tired of it," Rhys said, breathing heavily. His side was burning like crazy, but he simply scrunched his face up and tried to ignore it.

"On Pandora, you're gonna have to get used to killing. There's not much room for leaving people alive. Most will just turn around and kill you later," Gaige explained to him.

"And you're... one of those people? Are you saying I should kill you?" Rhys asked, managing to raise his eyebrow.

"I didn't say that, but it's friendly advice," Gaige said quickly, regretting her statement. But she felt his weight be lifted off her, and Rhys lay on his back while deciding to hold his gunshot would with his metal hand.

"Go. I'll be gone when I can find the strength to get up, or until I bleed out. Whichever happens first," Rhys breathed out. Gaige frowned. She probably was going to regret this, but she wouldn't let this guy die. I mean, he could've kept shocking her with the stun baton until she lost consciousness or died before looting her corpse or bleeding out. But he didn't. He let her live. She felt like, in a weird way, she owed him one.

Gaige grabbed her ECHO that hung in his limp hand before summoning two hypos. One was for herself to help with her electric burns that she got from his stun baton. The other was to heal Rhys of his wounds. His eyes widened when he looked at his now healed wound before quickly looking back at Gaige.

"Why did you save me?" he asked.

"Cause you didn't kill me," Gaige said simply. It was that simple. Rhys knew that. Life could be very scarce for most people who weren't bandits. So she felt somewhat grateful. At least, that's what Rhys assessed.

Rhys was the first one to his feet and he held out his metal arm for Gaige to grasp. She grabbed it and was brought to her feet. She walked around and picked up her guns to put in her ECHO. Then she turned back to Rhys and tossed him her Vladof pistol.

"You need a gun," Gaige said simply.

"Yeah, I know. But it's not like I can necessarily raid a bandit camp and loot the place like you Vault Hunters," Rhys said.

"Yeah, but if you have money..."

"Don't have any money. Only thing I got is this ECHO and my stun baton," Rhys said, picking up the ECHO that he had dropped during the fight.

"Wow, you don't have much do you?" Gaige asked, crossing her arms and looking at Rhys with a surprised expression.

"After Helios fell, I'm lucky to be alive. I'm an ex-Hyperion if you can believe it," Rhys said, deciding to go ahead and clear the air with that. Gaige was tempted to draw her shotgun, but she held back and decided to ask. After all, Hyperions get big bucks for killing or bringing in Vault Hunters. And he passed that up. That was _very_ un-Hyperion.

"'Ex?'" she questioned.

"Got tired of the bullshit of Handsome Jack put me through, so I just ended up crashing Helios. I didn't even care," Rhys said, his tone hollow.

 _"You're way better at killing people than I am. How many people do you think were on Helios, huh?"_ Jack's words echoed through his head, and Rhys felt guilty every time he thought about that.

"Just so you know, Handsome Jack's been dead for a while now. I was there when Lilith burned his skull from the inside out," Gaige said, recalling the memory of Hero's Pass.

"Oh, if you only knew..." Rhys said, shaking his head. Gaige frowned. She did not like the sound of that. Just what was he suggesting?

 _"I did what I had to. To rid the world of you."_

"And I sure as hell would do it again," Rhys said aloud. Gaige looked at Rhys strangely. She thought he was either insane or haunted. There wasn't much of a difference between the two any more.

"Anyway, it's Rhys by the way," he said, holding out his human hand. Gaige stared at it for a minute before grasping it with her metal one.

"Gaige. Look, I'm sorry for shooting at you," she said, scratching the back of her head in minor embarrassment. "I'm used to running into bandits more than anything, and I shoot first and ask questions never..."

"You didn't kill me, and you've stopped shooting at me. I think I'm over it now," Rhys said. Gaige smiled.

"That's certainly quite a thing to get over. Uh, we got off on the wrong foot. I'm not sure how everyone else would react to you, but do you need a place to stay? Sanctuary's been looking for more people to recruit, and I feel like I could get you in. Provided I teach you what your Hyperion scrooges could not," Gaige explained with a prideful smirk.

"You sure I won't get shot in the face after they find out I used to be an ex-Hyperion? I mean, we did call mortar strikes on you guys on the daily," Rhys said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Well, I'll make sure to tell Lilith last. She might not take it as well as everyone else. My car's not far. I can head back to Sanctuary now. Lilith complained about the giant ECHO signal you were sending out, and wanted one of us to check it out," Gaige said before deciding to add some other things as an afterthought. "You better be glad it was me who came. If it was Zer0, your throat would've been cut open before you even saw him. Axton's turret would blast you to sticky pieces. Krieg would take your baton, shove it up his ass, and call it paradise before slicing your head off. If it was Maya, you wouldn't probably wouldn't have even gotten behind that rock before you were dead. And you can't pin Sal down like you did me, so I'd say you're very lucky."

Rhys gulped. By the sound of things, her fellow Vault Hunters were a lot more formidable than she was. And in this case, that was bad. Very bad. He was lucky.

"Uh... yeah. Listen, can we get off the subject of how lucky I am not to get those other Vault Hunters trying to kill me?" Rhys asked.

"The wittle Hyperwon is scared?" Gaige said in a baby voice before it leveled out. "Can't say I blame you. Come on." A smile tugged at Rhys' lips. He liked this girl. Just as serious as Athena when it came down to it, but as playful as Fiona or Sasha. He knew his time his time with her was never going to be a dull moment as he followed her.

* * *

A/N: This is a one shot, but I'll make it a series if you enjoy it and see potential. I've always wanted to play with these two meeting, and now's the perfect time when I've got a suitable plot to work with. Tell me what you think, and peace!


	2. Chapter 2 - Settling into Sanctuary

A/N: Like I said, this was intended to be a one-shot, but I can't ignore the voice of the people. Even though most politicians do. I'll continue this story, plus after a little brainstorming, I've discovered that I've got a lot of ideas for this. More than I expected really. I won't reveal any, but I'm sure you'll enjoy them. But I've pre-written a lot of chapters for my Code Lyoko Fanfiction and I half don't feel like stopping, so updates might be random as all living shit. Anyway, enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Rhys began swaying like a drunken sailor on a ship when he landed on Sanctuary via the Fast Travel. Rhys never felt so nauseous except during his trip to space to get to Helios. But he'd rather avoid that memory.

"It's pretty uncomfortable, isn't it?" Gaige questioned, looking at how green Rhys looked. Rhys had to force himself to swallow the rising bile in his throat.

"Ugh. The only that's more uncomfortable than that is space travel. And that's going at high speeds," Rhys said, following Gaige to the center of town.

"Yeah, it's not pleasant. But just keep your lunch in front of the others," Gaige told me.

"So you're going to take me to your other Vault Hunter friends?" Rhys asked, somewhat fearful at the though of facing five badasses who could kill him with almost no effort. Well, four. He supposed he was on generally good terms with Zer0. At least he hoped. "Just what will stop them from ripping my throat open on sight?"

"Don't immediately mention that you're a Hyperion for starters. Well, ex-Hyperion. Let me do the talking. Don't speak unless they ask you question. Stay calm, look cool, and stay silent," Gaige told Rhys, who nodded. "Now, I think we'll be better off by telling Maya. She's always a generally calm one and isn't quick to kill like the others are. She'll probably be easier to convince."

"Is Zer0 here?" Rhys asked, somewhat hopeful. Gaige raised an eyebrow. He knew Zer0? He never knew the assassin was one to mingle with Hyperions. Or anyone for that matter.

"You know Zer0?" she asked.

"Sort of. He saved my life from some bandits. There's no doubt that I owe him, but I'm wondering if he can also vouch for me that I'm not much of a threat. Hell, the bandits can attest to that..." Rhys said, remembering that time he failed to snap a bandit's neck. He was wondering that _if_ he could someone get Zer0 to teach him, could he teach him how to snap necks first. He had a metal arm for Christ's sake! That should really be easy for him, but it really wasn't. It's a lot harder than most killers make it look like. For them, they look like they take almost no effort except moving their arms.

Gaige snorted. "Me and Deathtrap can attest to how much of a threat you are. In certain situations, I'd say you're plenty capable. But there's always room for improvement. Hell, maybe Zer0 might be willing to train you and help you improve on that."

"Exactly what I was thinking. But tutelage from a professional assassin like Zer0 will not be cheap," Rhys said, knowing that the assassin was not going to teach him for free. The only reason Athena taught Fiona was because she was paid to. The same could likely be said for Zer0.

"Well, I could help you make a bit of money Pandoran style," Gaige said, rubbing her fingers together.

"I know how work on here goes. Most people either want some badass creature killed, a specific bandit or an entire bandit camp killed, or they want something retrieved," Rhys said, already knowing.

"Yeah, that covers most of our jobs," Gaige said with an airy tone.

"Work that I'm not really cut out for," Rhys reminded her. "I'm not like you. I'm not a badass Vault Hunter with guns that can wipe out entire bandit camps like a casual thing." Gaige proudly smiled at the fact that she was included in that category before speaking.

"We'll start you off slow. Maybe a bandit or two. In the meantime, I'm gonna call Maya," Gaige said, getting on her ECHO to contact her. It didn't take physical movements to contact people, so she didn't have to move a muscle.

"Hey Maya. Yeah, I got a Hyperion right next to me." Gaige smiled. "Yes, I obviously have a reason for not killing him if I'm calling you. One, he genuinely wants to join the Raiders. I'm not even kidding about that. Two, he may have been the reason that the Hyperion space station even fell out of orbit. And three, he could've killed me after _I_ attacked _him,_ and he let me live. Are those reasons good enough for you?" Her smile got even wider. "I thought that would get your attention. How are we going to explain this to the others? Simple. You, me and Zer0 will ensure that our ex-Hyperion friend isn't shot by the Raiders, punched to a pulp by Brick, or burned from the inside by Lilith. The third one really concerns me." Rhys gulped at the idea of any of those things happening to him. "Yes, I realize Zer0 kills Hyperions for fun, but one, Zer0 is willing to kill anything for fun. And two, according to him, Zer0 saved his life. So he'll likely vouch for him. Well, he doesn't have a reason to lie that Rhys is a threat. It'll be enough. So do we have your help?" Her smile disappeared and turned into a curious look. "You want to meet him? Alright, we'll wait for you on the edge of the city. See ya." She ended the call and Rhys looked at her hesitantly.

"How'd you know that I sent Helios crashing?" he asked. Gaige's eyes widened.

"You mean you really were the one who sent the space station crashing down?!" she exclaimed.

"You're the one who told your friend that you did! I assume you knew!" Rhys exclaimed.

"Hello! Emphasis on the words _may have?!_ I thought you would've given us some insight as to who did our job for us, not actually pick you for the one who took it down in the first place!" Gaige exclaimed before thinking. _"He really took down Helios? Wow. He_ really _must not have like Hyperion. Can't blame him really."_

"Well... sorry to disappoint," Rhys said lamely, immediately wanting a change of subject. "So your friend wants to meet me?" Gaige decided to go ahead and go along with the change of subject.

"Yup. She just probably wants to make sure you're being sincere. But either way, you're gonna want her cooperation. The only way to really stop a violent Siren is to put a calm one in front of her. So to speak. So I think it's a good idea to make a good impression on her when she gets here. I mean, she _is_ saving _your_ ass here," Gaige said.

"Thanks for the reminder. You said she would meet us on the edge of the city?" Rhys asked.

"Yup. We'll wait for her there. Follow me," Gaige said, gesturing for Rhys to follow her. Though she didn't say it, she was impressed by this _ex-_ Hyperion, which was saying a lot. She was _almost_ over the fact that he beat her ass while she was the one with the gun.

The technology he had was definitely custom made. Most company made items often had their logo on it and had limits as not to make them too dangerous to the company itself. His arm was restricted by neither of those quirks. It also looked to be grounded, inflammable, and alkaline. He was obviously a tech nerd like herself. But he seemed a little more brilliant, as much as she hated to admit it.

And not only was the arm custom, but so was the ECHO eye and the Information Injection Insertion, or the Triple I. But it's not easy to install that stuff without help. You'd need someone's help if you wanted to suffer the process painlessly. If you had to do it yourself, you'd need a huge tolerance for pain. And plenty of blood. Perhaps a constant supply of it. There was so much to know about the man that she wanted to know, but she didn't feel like it was her place to pry yet.

Rhys was silent the entire time because he wanted things to stay quiet. He was worried about this situation, and he was concerned his nervousness would cause him to say something stupid. When he looked up, he noticed a Scooter's garage near the edge of the city, and he had to hold back his turmoil. He couldn't stop himself from looking at the ground with a dejected look, but he did manage to avoid saying anything. Rhys could hear the man's final words from Fiona's communicator that she left on. He heard him mention his family. If they were here... he didn't care how much they hated him. He would let them know. Gaige turned around and noticed the look full of dejection on the Hyperion's face.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked, frowning slightly. Rhys knew he hasn't made an impression on anyone yet, but he knew they needed to know.

"Is Scooter's family here?" he asked. Gaige looked at Rhys with a surprised look.

"You know Scooter as well? Wow, you get around," she said. His look did not change as he looked Gaige dead in the eye. He was not in the mood for jokes.

"Are they?" Rhys asked, his expression dead serious. To be honest, it was unnerving Gaige a bit.

"His mother is here. His sister's in the Dust. Why?" she asked.

"I need to talk to them," Rhys said.

"It can wait. You need to make sure you settle in and not get killed before you saddle up with Moxxi. I know she's sexy, but control yourself, okay?" Gaige said with a smirk even though she knew that was not his intention. Rhys recalled seeing her picture on a photo in Fiona's caravan. She really was a sexy woman. But that wasn't the reason he wanted to see her. Rhys wanted to argue, but he knew he had to have a place here before having any right to tell her this news. She was likely going to murder his ass once she found out he used to be a Hyperion. It's gonna be all over the city once word gets out. He knew that. But he would take it. The man gave his life for him and his friends. And August with his little band of thugs. The least he could do was break the news to them.

They made it to the edge and Rhys looked out on the sky. The clouds and the wind gave off a very peaceful atmosphere. He almost felt like he might not die in the next few minutes.

 _"From up here, Pandora actually looks like a peaceful planet. Almost makes you forget that there are bandits who will kill you and loot your corpse before you can even blink. Or psychos who will use you as a candidate for a skin pizza," Rhys thought. "Welcome home Rhysie..."_

Rhys almost felt sickened at himself for even using one of Jack's nicknames for him. He gripped his metal hand so hard, the motion gears in it groaned. Pandora may have suffered under his rule, but they had no idea what it was like actually living with the madman. To have him in your head... able to control part of your body... it scared Rhys more than he could care to admit. The only reason Rhys accepted Jack's offer to join Hyperion was so he and his friends could finally have the peace they always wanted. A peace that involved them getting off Pandora.

Gaige noticed how his facial expressions seemed to be changing at a rapid rate. His mind must be going a mile a minute. Just what was he even thinking about?"

"Something else on your mind?" Gaige asked. Rhys frowned.

"Bad memories. It's not a problem though," he said.

"You sure? You look pretty distracted," Gaige said.

"I'm sure. Trust me, it's not a problem. When it becomes a problem, I'll let you know," Rhys said.

"I'll hold you to that," Gaige said. Rhys simply nodded before remembering why they were even here in the first place.

"So how much longer until your friend gets here?" Rhys asked.

"The wait is over. Sorry about that. Blame the numerous badass skags that held me up," Maya said from behind Rhys and Gaige. "This must be your Hyperion friend." Rhys nodded.

"It's Rhys," he said evenly while surveying the Siren in front of him. One could easily admire the Siren standing in front of him. Not only because of her beauty, but because of the way she carried herself. Her stance, strong air, and dispassionate look made all of the perfect ingredients of a professional Vault Hunter and an amazing leader.

Maya noticed the way the Hyperion was looking her. He was undressing her with his eyes. Certainly not literally, but not even in his mind. No, he was surveying and studying her. She could see that he was roaming her curves a little bit more than necessary, but that was to be expected with all men. Gaige was just standing there and watching the two survey each other. She didn't know what was going on, but they had the same look on her face.

"Enjoying the view?" Gaige said with a smirk. Rhys stopped in his surveying and raised his hand apologetically, his cheeks slightly red.

"Sorry. Got a little carried away," he said.

"I know what you were doing," Maya said evenly. Rhys raised an eyebrow. She seemed to know that he was surveying, not staring. Man, this is what Hyperion's leader should've been like. And that's what he wanted. Not... Handsome Jack.

"You do?" Rhys asked.

"Yes, I do. And already you impress me as far as Hyperions go. You've got my aid," Maya said, making Rhys smile gratefully. That was fast, but he didn't complain. This made his chances of not dying to the other Raiders a lot better,

"We have another thing to address," Gaige told Maya. "Rhys here needs better survival training, and Zer0 might be a perfect teacher." Maya snorted, which was something the newly crowned owner of Atlas did not expect.

"Good luck trying to convince him to do it for free. And no," she said before Gaige could even say anything. "I'm not chipping in for it. I'm saving my money."

"The only thing you buy is ammo and the occasional shiny thing you see in the vendors," Gaige said, trying to argue Rhys' case.

"It's fine Gaige. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, but right now, we need to focus on getting me to stay, remember?" Rhys reminded her. Gaige nodded, but she was pretty adamant about getting Maya to help.

"I believe you should be fine with our help. But it wouldn't hurt to get Zer0 here. The assassin could help with keeping things civil," Maya said before using the ECHO to contact him. "Get to the edge of the city." But as if the assassin was magic, he appeared out of nowhere in front of Maya, making Gaige and Rhys jump. Maya simply shook her head irritably.

"You have got to stop doing that," she said in an annoyed voice. Though the assassin's attention was focused on Rhys.

"You," he simply said. The assassin could admit to himself that he didn't expect to see the Hyperion alive again. He though Pandora's lifestyle would eventually lead to his death, but apparently he was made of more sterner stuff than he originally thought. And the assassin was normally correct in his analyzations.

 _"This is interesting. Very interesting,"_ Zer0 thought to himself.

The ninja was thin, but tall and imposing. Rhys was only a few inches shorter, but the assassin made him feel much smaller. Gaige stood next to the two and looked at Zer0.

"So... Zer0..."

"You wish for me to train him / I know of your plans / I was here when Maya was," Zer0 told the girl.

"You ruin surprises," Gaige said with a playful pout. "So will you do it?"

"No," Zer0 said simply. Rhys knew that the assassin was likely going to say that, but he still couldn't stop himself from being disappointed at his answer.

"Why?" Gaige asked.

"Too much time / No pay whatsoever / It is simply not worth it," Zer0 said. And Rhys couldn't really blame him. But Rhys was a businessman, dammit. He needed to negotiate.

"Will collateral work for you ensure that I pay you?" he asked. Gaige looked at Rhys strangely, but he nodded to ensure her that it was ok.

"What do you have to offer? / Everything that looks remotely valuable / You look like you need," Zer0 said, surveying Rhys' cybernetics. He sighed.

Rhys dug in his pocket and dug out the rights to Atlas. This was the key to him being at the top of the business food chain like he always wanted, and he was willing to risk that. That's how much he cared about this. Zer0 slowly reached out to touch the certificate and Rhys let him grab it.

Gaige's eyes widened at the sight of the legit Atlas ownership and Maya raised a curious eyebrow. Neither female expected the ex-Hyperion, or should they say Atlas to pull out anything like that. Gaige realized that she may be befriending the next company that was sure to rise to power. But that's if Rhys made it. And didn't become like Handsome Jack. But it seems that was the very thing he was hoping to avoid.

"How'd you get this?" Zer0 asked him.

"Took it from Handsome Jack's office before Helios fell. Had to crawl through and extremely bloody trap door to get in," Rhys said, deciding not to mention his entire story. At least, not just yet.

Zer0 examined the rights a little while longer before handing them back to Rhys. He was slightly upset that it wasn't good enough collateral, but he could understand that. Atlas wasn't worth a damn thing anymore.

"I used to be an Atlas assassin / During their glory days / The pay was rather nice," Zer0 suddenly said. "I'll give you a chance."

"What kind of chance?" Rhys asked hesitantly, trying not to get too excited.

"There is an Atlas base on Old Haven that I remember / As well as a base that two of the Raiders found / Bring back anything worth value and I'll train you," Zer0 said, making Rhys feel really giddy. This was his chance. Not only to get some well needed training, but to impress Zer0. The badass ninja assassin that Rhys admired from day one. He would definitely try his best on that front.

"I'll definitely take you up on that offer," Rhys said, his voice somehow coming out a lot calmer than he expected it to be. He expected it to be high pitched and giddy like the last time he met Zer0.

"Know this. You may not have any help from anyone else. They may spare weapons, shields, or anything of the sort, but not to have your back," Zer0 said normally. Rhys looked at Zer0 strangely. It sounded weird when Zer0 did not talk in haiku. Bur Rhys nodded nonetheless.

"Aw, come on!" Gaige exclaimed. Zer0 immediately looked at her.

"He does it alone / Or he does not do it at all / You make the decision," he said. Gaige looked upset at the assassin, but she agreed grudgingly before turning toward Rhys.

"I'll let you borrow my ECHO, but let's get you through the interview with dear kind and sweet Lilith," she said with a snort, leading Rhys to believe she was anything but.

"Then let's get going," Maya said, leading the group towards the Raiders' headquarters.

As they were walking, Rhys could feel his heart pounding so hard, that it was likely to even be heard by ears that were not his. No one said a word. Even though numerous Raiders goggled at Rhys when he walked past.

They had finally made it to the top, and Gaige decided to go ahead and empty her ECHO into the Vault before getting there and talking to Lilith. But it seemed Lilith didn't want to wait.

"Gaige! Did you find out what was causing that signal?" she asked.

"Yeah, let me put my stuff up first," Gaige said.

"That can wait. Go ahead and come here," Lilith said. Gaige just finished emptying everything she had into the Vault before rolling her eyes. She slammed the Vault with a muttered 'Bitch' before joining Rhys and the other Vault Hunters in the hallway. They then walked into the planning room together.

Mordecai was relaxing in a chair and drinking a lager, Brick was doing one handed push-ups outside, and Lilith was looking down at the map of Pandora. Or at least the areas that were important to the Raiders before looking back up at Gaige.

"What did you find?" she said, seemingly ignoring Rhys' presence.

"A new recruit," Gaige said, gesturing to Rhys overdramtically, who rolled his eyes.

"Gaige, calm down. The name's Rhys," he said, holding out his metal hand in kindness. Lilith ignored it and looked at him with a critical gaze that could prove to be more deadly than a headshot from a sniper.

"That hand is interesting. What happened?" she asked. Rhys lowered his hand immediately and frowned.

"Hyperion experiment," he said, crossing his arms together. At the mere mention of Hyperion, Brick stopped his push-ups and stood near the door. Mordecai immediately started paying more rapt attention to the conversation at hand and Lilith's right eye twitched slightly.

 _"Oh, I'm neck deep in skag shit now,"_ Rhys thought to himself.

"You're from Hyperion?" she asked with a voice more deadly than the first bandit ever met. And that guy nearly brained him with a cleaver.

"I'm former Hyperion. Shit happens, and you nearly die," Rhys said, crossing his arms.

"We don't care for any Hyperions here," Mordecai said, standing up from his seat and his mouth in an angry frown.

"Give us a reason why we shouldn't pound you into paste right here, right now," Brick said aggressively, pounding his right fist into his left hand.

"Because he's with us Brick," Maya told the brute. The Siren, the Hunter, and the Berserker all synchronized their head movements as they turned to look between Maya, Zer0, and Gaige.

"You're defending this Hyperion scumbag?" Mordecai said, pointing at Rhys while looking dead at Maya. Her expression remained to be a paragon of dispassion. Rhys admired how stolid the Siren was. It was an amazing feat. Especially in front of an angry sniper with breath that could knock an army of Bullymongs out. He could smell the alcohol on his breath from here.

"Yes, I am. Because his intentions are pure," Maya said simply.

"There is no love for any Hyperion here," Lilith said, her tone getting steadily angry.

"I'm not looking for love. I'm looking for shelter," Rhys said told them, his tone reechoing out.

"Go back out there and rough it. See how we felt when you assholes drove us out of New Haven. We lost a lot of good people that day," Lilith snarled at the Hyperion, her tattoos starting to glow and pointing a furious finger at Rhys.

Rhys blinked before looking down at the ground in a dejected way. Handsome Jack told the whole world that the bandits had been driving out and were on the run, which felt like good news at the time. But now helping the very corporation that did that... it just made him feel like shit. Living out on Pandora with no home... it was not easy. Rhys knew that. He learned it in the hardest of ways.

"Believe me, I know. It's not easy. But I know my pain can't compare to yours. But I have suffered as well too, you know," Rhys said.

"You do not know the meaning of suffering Hyperion. Not yet," Mordecai told Rhys angrily. _That,_ Rhys was going to argue.

"You say it's hard on Pandora, and it is. I know that. But you probably think it was easy on Helios. That everything was always champagne and moonshotting bandits while we went around worshiping the ground Jack walked on. Well, I can certainly tell you that it was _not_ like you perceive it," Rhys said, his tone getting louder. "It was not easy on Helios. Every day you were on there, you were just a fish in the water waiting to get devoured. It was a constant power struggle, everyone looking for a way to make it up in the world. Everyone was ready to kill you for even the smallest of promotions. And if you didn't learn to adapt, you were killed. You couldn't trust anyone but those you kept so close, they were almost part of you."

A silence rang out in the whole room. Not even the still angry Lilith dared to say anything. I'm sure if you claimed she was interested in what he had to say, she would say you were full of shit. But it was plain obvious that everyone did want to know.

"Handsome Jack was an asshole. Plain and simple. He used his workers for punching bags, he spit on people, and sometimes worse Just blatant disrespect, but everyone respected him. Everyone wanted to be him. We all wanted to be that man that no one would dare cross. Even then, he kept the struggle for power within Helios even somewhat respectable while he was alive. When he died, that situation all went to shit in ways you couldn't even imagine. A pit full of skags could be safer than that base sometimes," Rhys finished.

"We couldn't bother to give a damn how tough it was on Helios. Like you only care about yourselves, we can only bother to care about ourselves. And we don't want you here. You should've just bothered to stay and died with the rest of your Hyperion buddies," Mordecai said.

"Then you'll be surprised to know that not all of my friends were Hyperion. When you go to Pandora, you learn to be friends with the locals as well. Even if they initially think you're a Hyperion piece of shit when they first meet you," Rhys said, remembering how Sasha tried to throw him out of the moving caravan. Good times. Things were a lot more simple.

"I can easily call bullshit on that one. No one on Pandora likes you," Lilith said.

"What are we? Chopped skag liver?" Gaige said, throwing her hands up. Lilith didn't even bother registering Gaige as she got up in Rhys' face.

"I don't know who you think you are. But you are very much mistaken if you think you can make us give a damn about you. Any friends you likely had are dead, and if they didn't die, they would've stabbed you in the back for the next rise of power. You even said it yourself," she said. For the first time, Rhys could feel anger boil in him. That was blatant disrespect on Vaughn's part, and his friend nearly died to keep him alive and going towards Gortys. If he didn't contact him on Helios, he would've thought he was dead.

"Don't you speak about my friend like that," Rhys said, a low growl making itself apparent in Rhys' voice. Lilith's tattoos glowed and she bared her teeth, but Rhys didn't back down. He found himself too hopped up on anger to be scared. He had never felt this angry. It was so intense, it wasn't even funny. It might get him killed.

"Fuck you," Lilith growled.

Mordecai made to stand while drawing his pistol sidearm, but Gaige quickly made to get in front of him. Brick followed the example of his best friend, but Maya intervened to move in front of Brick. Zer0 silently made his way in between the pissed off Siren and cyborg before looking at Lilith.

"Move assassin," she said.

"No. You will cease this foolish attitude," Zer0 said, something bordering on irritation in the assassin's voice.

"You cannot make me do anything," Lilith said.

"I aided in your rescue / Do not make me act violently / This will not end pleasantly," Zer0 said, not backing down from the angry Siren. The deep feeling of partnership that he had on one part of his mind made him want this argument to stop. The bloodthirsty and violent side of him almost wanted Lilith to lose control. He always wanted to test his skills against a Siren warrior. But he opted for his kinder, more pacficist side first. If you could believe the assassin had one.

Lilith was angry. She couldn't believe that these Vault Hunters had went soft all of a sudden. They had killed numerous Hyperion soldiers before. Why was this one pathetic worker any different? Hyperion was the cause of all of their suffering. The death of Roland and many other Crimson Raiders, the demise of New Haven, the skull shivers in Overlook. Hyperion had more crimes to their name than she could count. She would do Pandora a favor by burning the Hyperion's face off.

But the gears in her head starting turning. She knew just about everyone on Pandora felt the same way she did. Including everyone on Sanctuary. She would let the Hyperion in and introduce his presence to Sanctuary only to influence them to kill him when no one was the wiser. At least anyone who cared about him. One way or another, he was dead. And she would see to that.

Another benefit is that she didn't have to induct Zer0's wrath, who, for whatever reason, was defending the Hyperion. She prided herself on being a strong and capable warrior, but if she didn't have her Siren powers as a buff in fights, she wouldn't have a prayer against the assassin who was deadlier than the skull shivers itself if you caught his wrath.

Lilith backed herself away from Zer0 and she walked back and forth a few paces while taking deep breaths in and out to suggest she was calming herself down. For her, it was quite easy to put up the deception.

"Ugh. I do not like this," Lilith said.

"Then let me prove I'm on your side. I don't give a damn you have any Hyperion soldiers on this base. I will shoot them if asked me to, and that's the God honest truth," Rhys said, actually meaning it. There wasn't a single soldier of Hyperion that he cared about, and he was learning that Pandoran edge that he needed to do whatever it took to survive. Unless it involved saving his friends. That's a line he wouldn't cross.

Now Lilith was surprised. She didn't expect him to say something like that and mean it. His ties to Hyperion must've been all but severed. Then again, soldiers' lives were meaningless to Handsome Jack when he was trying to complete an objective. The game did not likely change.

"Just how are you plan on hiding this among the locals? You hide it and they find out, you're dead," Lilith said, restraining herself from smiling at the thought.

"I'm not planning on hiding it. I'm willing to tell anyone and everyone," Rhys said. The side of Lilith's lips twitched. She was finding it extremely hard not to smile. This Hyperion was leading himself right into his death.

"You must have a death wish kid. The Raiders will react the same way we did. Only they already have guns in their hand," Mordecai said with a smile. Rhys was finding it hard not to freak out from that bit of news. But he prevented himself from giving a reaction other than an eye twitch.

"Not if I have anything to do with it," Gaige said with vigor.

"Let's see if the soldiers think the same way. You stay here, you're setting yourself up for death here. I recommend you think about this and leave before you set yourself to get shot at," Mordecai warned Rhys, but he didn't back down. He really wanted this. This Hyperion had balls. More so than he thought. Nevertheless, Mordecai would enjoy his death.

"Get everyone together. Let's tell them. And I do not trust her to say it, so Maya. Please, if you will," Rhys said, gesturing to her. Lilith frowned. But to be honest, if the Hyperion did suggest she talk, that would not make him as smart as he claims. He was definitely playing his cards close to the chest.

Maya gestured for everyone to follow her and Rhys was the first one to trail behind her. Lilith, Mordecai, and Brick grudgingly followed.

"I can't even believe this is happen. We are actually about to let a Hyperion into this city," Brick said.

"Calm down amigo. If the other Raiders react just as violently as we do, he won't last very long. They can't be here the whole time protecting him," Mordecai reminded his friend.

"You have a point there," Brick said. Rhys could hear their entire conversation and he knew they that they knew he could hear them and couldn't do a damn thing about it. He knew he was signing up for a rough time living here, but he was willing to take it. Even though it would be like putting himself in a skag den.

Lilith got the attention of the Raider stationed outside the archive building and asked him to round everyone up. The Raider quickly ran off and began getting everyone together. Lilith immediately then began looking at Rhys.

At first glance, he looked to be completely calm, but she could see him tapping his foot at a fast pace and he looked to be restless. He was definitely nervous. And for good reason too. This would more than likely end in death for him. She allowed a small smile to come to her face, which Maya caught. She knew her fellow Siren was up to no good.

In what seemed like no time at all, the Raider had quickly gotten help and started rounding up ever denizen. Rhys was quite terrified. This was the possible jury that was going to sentence him to death.

He quickly looked to Maya, who nodded reassuringly before walking in front of the crowd. Rhys could distinguish Moxxi in the crowd, and that was someone he needed to talk to extremely soon. But for now, he had to face the music.

"Soldiers and citizens of Sanctuary. We have finally got a new recruit to the Raiders. If you're wondering why I am we're bothering to get everyone together for such an announcement, is at the recruit's request. He has a past. One that none of you will find very favorable," Maya said. Then there was some mumbling among the crowd.

"Just what do you mean 'very favorable?'" one of the Lancemen asked. Rhys then stepped up from behind Zer0 and walked up in front of the crowd, his heart pounding harder than a drum, but his face even.

"I am an ex-Hyperion," he said with his hands behind his back. To be expected, there was an uproar at his words. Some Lancemen even went for their guns, to which Rhys backed up at. But Maya painlessly Phaselocked the guy who went for his gun and the roaring crowd went silent.

"Now... you will not be shooting at him. He is here to help. We know because you know we have a reputation of killing every Hyperion we see. Besides, he could've easily hidden the fact that he's a Hyperion, but he wanted everyone to know cause he wanted to no doubt that he's on our side. That's very amendable," Maya explained to the crowd. "Now, that's pretty much all. As you were."

There was grumbling and mumbling all among the crowd, but they dispersed anyways. Rhys gestured for Maya to follow him away from prying ears. Namely away from Lilith and the other two that wanted his heart on a platter.

"Could you do me a favor?" Rhys asked.

"I've already done you one, but I suppose I could do another," Maya said.

"Could you go get Miss Moxxi for me? Without giving off the impression that I'm currently a scumbag Hyperion?" Rhys asked.

"I don't think now's the time to flirting with the locals who already don't like you yet," Maya said, with a small smirk. Only she realized that Rhys was dead serious. She realized that that wasn't his intention at all.

"Alright. But before I go to get her, tell me. Just what happened that's so serious?" Maya asked. Rhys looked at her with a serious look that quickly turned sad.

"I met her son Scooter on my journey. He helped me and my friends get to Helios to steal something we needed. Something went wrong with one of the engines, and when Scooter went out to fix it. He got stuck and..." Rhys' voice closed up at the end and Maya held up a hand for him to stop. He had said plenty enough for her.

"How about you let me tell her? It'll be easier on you," Maya said. Rhys shook his head.

"No, it'll be better if she gets told by someone who was there. I at least owe her that much," Rhys said. Maya nodded. She didn't really understand his decision from a logical standpoint, but she could understand that it was more emotional than anything. So she granted his wish and went to go get Moxxi.

Meanwhile, Gaige was surveying Rhys while he was talking to Maya and immediately strode over to him once she walked away.

"You two have a nice chat?" Gaige asked.

"Something like that. Now, would you mind telling the rest of your Vault Hunter friends about our little adjustment?" Rhys asked.

"Sure thing. They shouldn't really give you too much trouble once I tell them you're cool. But you're gonna need this," Gaige said, handing Rhys her ECHO. "Just remember to come back alive and with my ECHO Mr. Atlas." She walked away and Rhys smiled. He loved to have someone like Gaige watching his back.

Lilith, Mordecai, and Brick were still positioned in front of the headquarters, and they eyed Rhys as he stood there alone. Rhys was half afraid he was going to get shot right then and there for even daring to make eye contact with them. But regardless, he held eye contact with them.

Either they got bored or they just got tired of staring Rhys down, they ended up walking back up the headquarters and Rhys leaned back on the wall that was behind him.

In what seemed like no time at all, Maya had come back with Moxxi right next to her. Upon making eye contact with Rhys, she immediately turned around, but Maya held out an arm to stop her before wheeling her around to face her. Whatever she told her was obviously good enough to convince her because she turned around and walked back towards Rhys. She had an irritated expression on her face when she came close to the Hyperion.

"I don't know how you did it, but you somehow got Vault Hunters on your side. You must be a really good charmer or a really good liar," Moxxi said.

"I'm neither. I'm simply honest Miss Moxxi," Rhys said respectively. Moxxi frowned. She didn't expect him to sound so polite. And look so sincere. Then again, Hyperions were good at that. But this guy was _really_ good at it.

"You obviously have something to tell me. Judging by your need to get her to get me," Moxxi said with her arms crossed. Rhys bit his bottom lip.

"I do. My news is grave. Very grave," he said with a remorseful look on his face. Moxxi got a small uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, but she remained stolid on the outside and simply raised an eyebrow. But she couldn't deny he looked pretty upset. Unnaturally so.

"How does grave news for a Hyperion involve me? We celebrated when your precious space station fell," Moxxi said. Rhys frowned deeply. The whole reason he took the space station down was to get rid of a new era of Handsome Jack. And he didn't lie when he said he would do it all over again to get rid of him.

"So do I, but that's not the point I'm trying to make. It's about your son, Scooter," he said. The uneasiness in her stomach grew even more. He told them that he would be doing some work in Hollow Point, but he didn't make contact ever since. She warned him against going there, and by the sound of this Hyperion's word, she was correct in doing so. But she hoped she was wrong.

"What about him?" she asked, her voice somewhat hesitant. She cursed herself. She didn't want to sound like he was getting to her, but he was. Rhys' sadness only grew by the hesitant tone in her voice. He hated this. Scooter made _Fiona_ promise. Not him. He didn't make him a promise... but he still felt obligated to do this.

"He... he..." The hesitancy and the outright sadness in the Hyperion's voice turned Moxxi's uneasiness into straight fear. "He's dead. I'm so sorry."

"You're lying." The statement felt like a lie as soon as it left her lips. "You're lying, Hyperion. That's not a great way to gain the trust of the locals."

"I'm not lying. He was with me and my group. He got stuck in an engine and it failed and was gonna blow and take the entire ship with everyone on it. We... we had to cut it loose. There was no other way. Scooter knew that, and the rest of us knew it. But... it wasn't any easier," Rhys said, able to hear the entire conversation from the ship. Fiona left hers on, so they heard the whole thing.

Moxxi heard him. She heard him. But she didn't believe it. She _couldn't_ believe it. Scooter had survived a lot. He was tough as nails, despite his carefree attitude. He was not dead. He simply couldn't be dead. That's just not possible. They had survived Handsome Jack. It was supposed to be wonderful from this point on...

Rhys bit his lip and reached into his pocket and took out the ECHO recorder he had as he was tracking Fiona. He tuned it to the memory centers of his brain... during the event on Helios. He then handed it to Moxxi.

"I have his final words here... derived from my Information Injector. If you want to hear them... then it's here," Rhys said, opening her dead and motionless hand and putting the recorder in it gently.

Moxxi had just stood there, just... stunned. The woman had always felt in control and confident. It was how she molded situations to her advantages. That, the natural beauty that everyone knew she had, and the genius almost no one knew she had. It was a deadly combination if you were her enemy. But now she just felt... lost. The Hyperion's words had disarmed her as she knew that it was true. She could feel that he was being honest and sincere, and she couldn't refute that he was even though she so desperately wanted him to be. She could feel her barriers breaking down, but she wouldn't dare do it in public, and especially not in front of the Hyperion.

Moxxi quickly turned away and strode off, almost running. But Rhys noticed she kept the recorder in her hand rather than just dropping it. That meant she believed his words. At least that went smooth. But to be honest, he was expecting a lot more violent reaction. Knowing this place, he was probably going to get it later on.

"That couldn't have been easy," Maya said idly. Rhys looked down at the ground dejectedly. He really didn't want to drop at those Atlas bases now because of how he currently felt, but he knew that there was no time like the present.

"It wasn't. Not at all. I'm going to the Atlas bases. Tell Zer0 I'll be back whenever I can. Though Lord knows when that's going to be," he said, walking towards the Fast Travel. This day felt more shitty than more wonderful. But at least he got in Sanctuary. That was a plus. But who knows how long he would last.

* * *

A/N: Rhys handing Moxxi his ECHO was completely intentional. But if you're wondering why he doesn't the ECHO recorder for holding stuff, note that it's an ECHO _recorder._ Not just an ECHO like I deliberately mentioned. There are different types of ECHOs, and some hold items while others only relay messages. The ones that do both are not very common, so keep that in mind. Anyway, this chapter ran over longer than I thought, and I got a lot of editing to do, but hey. You wanted more, I gave you more. You better enjoy my hard work. lol


	3. Chapter 3 - Getting Weapons

A/N: Note that I'm bringing back a lot of the good guns from BL1 back, motherfuckers! I'm sure a lot of you probably won't recognize them, but some of them were reliable side arms and they could stay by your side for a long time in game.

* * *

Rhys shook off the nausea he felt from the Fast Travel and he was glad to see that the VERY old Fast Travel that was in Old Haven still worked. But as he walked through the town, he couldn't stop thinking about what happened back at Sanctuary. The feeling of telling Moxxi that Scooter was dead... it wasn't a feeling he wanted to experience again. How do you tell a mother her child is dead?

Then there were the other residents of Sanctuary he had to deal with. Almost all of them wanted to kill him in several painful ways. But his real concern was with the angry Siren named Lilith, the drunk, and they guy who looks like he bench presses cars rather than weights. But regardless of how they reacted to him, he wanted to help them. And getting new weapons for the army would be a nice first start. He saw that they were stuck with only pistols made by various manufacturers. Not even at a good rarity. So if he could get into the armory beneath the place a few of these Atlas bases, then it would go a long way in helping the soldiers at the very least.

 _"You doing good? I borrowed Maya's ECHO to contact you,"_ Gaige said after he answered a call on the ECHO.

"Yup. I Fast Traveled to the base, and I'm already headed inside. If I can find a lot of stuff in the armory and such, then it'll be good. I'll be able to help stock your soldiers up better. Their weapons were not all that great," Rhys said.

 _"You want to give them better weapons to try and shoot you with?"_ Gaige questioned.

"Well, hopefully they won't shoot me after I give them these weapons. I'm sure you're all to busy to bother arming your army better, so I'll handle it for you," Rhys said.

 _"Thanks for this. I've also had a chance to talk with the others. They really want to meet you,"_ Gaige said.

"I'll make note of that. See you when I get back," Rhys told her as he got inside the base.

 _"Bye,"_ Gaige said, shutting off the call. Rhys shut off the call and continued walking towards the base. His stomach dropped at the thought of not finding anything useful to bring back for them to use, but he had to try.

Once inside, Rhys looked around the whole base with his head looking all around the place and up at the ceiling. The place was gigantic. He didn't have the time to keep searching. He'd probably be at this all day.

 _"Let's speed this up, shall we?"_ Rhys thought.

Gesturing his hand out and activating his ECHO arm, he hacked the security system in the place and used the cameras to thoroughly search the area. It was pretty easy to find the armory at that point as there were cameras that were in just about every hallway. Luckily, the cameras were labeled, which made the search even quicker.

Heading downstairs, which was where the armory was located, he easily hacked the door panel to the armory and walked inside before being visually overwhelmed by all of the stuff down here. Now his real problem was how he was going to drag himself back to the Fast Travel after opening all of these loot crates and chests. This would take a long ass time.

 _"Well, since the chests likely hold the guns, which are going to be the best part, I'll start with the chests,"_ Rhys thought to himself.

He struggled with opening the crates at first, but he eventually snapped the tops off. It was filled with a bunch of shields and ECHOs. This would be very useful. Rhys picked up the first shield he saw and examined it. He could tell that it was reverse engineered. A lot of Atlas weapons would be extremely worn if they were original shields. This one was not. It was practically in mint condition, which was more than helpful. But he put this shield on his belt. Reverse engineered or no, it was likely that this was just effective as the original Omega, so he would be well protected. And there were plenty of them in here for everyone else.

He started piling shields in the ECHO Gaige gave him when it got full. Rhys set it down near the crate as not to get it mixed up with any other ECHO before using the spare ECHOs in the crates to pile all of the shields in. ECHOs went inside of ECHOs to help compensate and he had to do this for over ten crates. Luckily there were A LOT of ECHOs. Atlas must've been still expecting recruits or something. Whatever the reason for keeping the ECHOs, it served Rhys' purposes well.

Then after twenty minutes of piling crap into crates, it was onto the weapons, which was what Rhys was really anticipating. He was bound to find some good Atlas tech. Maybe they even have other weapons that were good back then. Who knew in a place this old? Rhys was very surprised that Athena didn't loot the armory either. Why were things working in his favor so well when it came to this base? It's like fate wanted him to succeed. For once, it was on his side rather than punching him in the dick like so many other times.

Rhys opened the first chest and got two SMGs with over a hundred rounds of ammo on one side and four grenades on the other. Rhys could tell that neither of the SMGs in this crate was Atlas, which made Rhys raise a slight eyebrow. But he had no idea of knowing what they were called or who they were made by. Until Rhys remembered ECHOs came with a loot identifier. Since ECHOs nowadays became popular all around the universe for bounty hunters and mercenaries, helping them retrieve objects from their contractor, holding money, loot, and other things. The automatic loot identifier just made them worth more.

So Rhys put on the one ECHO that had a bunch of ECHOs in it and looked at the loot from a more informative perspective. Both were of purple rarity. One was made by Torgue, the other Dahl.

The Torgue SMG was the Double Anarchy and the Dahl made one was the Stinger. Double Anarchy had high damage and fire rate for low accuracy and wild spread, making it more of an 'in your face' weapon. Rhys figured this followed the style of Brick, so that's who he would give it to. The Stinger was all about recoil reduction and reliable accuracy while having average damage and fire rate, making it a kickass weapon to have against bandits who were far away from you. The scope on it was excellent for long range combat. That was something he was sure Maya or Lilith would like. But he'd make all final decisions once he got all of the loot out.

Chest number two held nothing but pistols. They were all Masher revolvers made by four different manufacturers. Atlas, Tediore, Jakobs, and Dahl. But he remembered that the Masher was an effective revolver no matter who it was made by. But they haven't been made for years. It was a shame.

Now it was time for the third chest, and he got two snipers this time. Kyro's Power and the Cyclops. Definitely things that Zer0 and the drunken sniper would like. Mordecai was his name. Or at least, that's what Jack called him. And there was his bird that Jack killed. So that was definitely a subject he ought to avoid. But he didn't have to say anything to give out guns to everyone. It would be like Mercenary Day in Sanctuary.

Opening the fourth chest made Rhys near faint from excitement. He easily recognized the Chimera revolver in the bunch. The famed revolver that could change elements at will. There's so much he could do with that gun. Even reverse engineer it to allow the user to change the element through their ECHO. Even including slag in the bunch of elements. That would take a lot of work, but this gun would be worth a lot of money on the market. It was a top notch gun. One thing was for sure. He was definitely keeping this revolver. Hell, he was getting the guns. He should be the one who should decide who gets what.

Among the Chimera was also the Troll, which was perfect for people who got shot. The Aries, which was also perfect for people who liked doing damage and getting healed for doing so. And the original Jakobs Unforgiven. Man, where did Atlas get the blueprints for these weapons? Did they keep hold of them when they were in power? Cause this was a lot of reverse engineering they had to do. Plus, it was time consuming to make these things.

Chest number four had revolvers again. There were a lot of revolvers made, to which Rhys was not complaining whatsoever. He liked revolvers. The Defiler and Equalizer. But there was an SMG accompanied with them instead of two more revolvers. The Malevolent SMG, which looked like a reliable Tediore SMG.

Then Rhys searched the rest of the chests and he got a lot of antique legendary weapons. He really appreciated Atlas for making these. This was bound to get him in the good graces of some of the Raiders. Hopefully. The Surkov, The Invader, The Cobra, The Bitch(Which made Rhys laugh at the name), The Gasher, The Spy, The Raven, The Guardian, The Destroyer, The Boom Stick(which Rhys wasn't going to touch), The Bulldog, The Defender, and The Friendly Fire. A lot of old weapons. A lot. But they would still be more than effective in killing people.

"I see you've discovered our armory," a voice said, making Rhys jump. He looked over to a corner to see a bearded man standing near the door. His beard was well groomed, but everything else about him was quite the opposite. Everything else about him reeked of pain and struggle.

"We didn't find you the last time we were here," Rhys said.

"Ah, so you were the one raining bullets on the place. Hmm. Not like I could've done anything about it. It sounded like there were a lot of people up there," the man said.

"Yeah, there were. Most of them bandits," Rhys confirmed.

"I would've thought so. I've been down here for months. There's a lot of food and supplies, but I've been too wary to even see the sun. It can get quite depressing," the man said with a sigh. "So you're going to take all of the weapons?"

"That was my intention of coming here if I found any, yes," Rhys said idly, feeling the urge to fondle for his stun baton. He wasn't quite comfortable holding a gun yet.

"Well, then you have a long way to go. There are eight more rooms like this. There were nine, but a traitor killed all of the soldiers who dared fight her, which was all of them and looted what she wanted," the man said, making Rhys groan. He was going to have to search _more_ rooms? It took him a while just to go through _this_ one. "I suggest you get to work. Don't worry. If you leave me at least one gun, I'll be happy."

"Well... thanks. Just why are you so complicit?" Rhys asked.

"Because it's not like these weapons will be used for anything other than gathering dust. You can use them to arm your friends or just sell them for cash. Either way it goes, they'll be put to use," the man said.

"I'll make note of that. Now if you don't mind, I have to spend an eternity clearing out these rooms," Rhys said, walking past the man. This was going to take forever...

* * *

 _"The nausea does not help with the exhaustion,"_ Rhys thought when he teleported back to Sanctuary. It was several hours of unpacking crates, opening loot chests, and piling them into ECHO after ECHO after ECHO. It was very irritating and very tedious. But at least he got it done.

Walking into the center of town, he noticed that the citizens who normally stayed near this part of the city looked at him with an expression of pure loathing. The stares made Rhys beyond uncomfortable, but he steeled his nerves before walking around the city to go find Gaige. He had no idea where she was, so he decided on using contacting Maya's ECHO. Cause he made sure her ECHO was the one that carried every ECHO that carried ECHOs that carried weapons. Confusing, but it made sense when you worked through it.

"Gaige, you there?" Rhys asked over the ECHO.

 _"You expected Gaige on my ECHO?"_ Maya questioned over the ECHO.

"Well, she did contact me on it."

 _"Fair enough. Anyway, none of us are there. We're working on a job. What is it that you want?"_

"I have a ton of weapons on me from the Atlas base, but I have no idea where to put them."

 _"Refer to Marcus. You'll be set up for some decent money if you know how to negotiate."_

"Doesn't the army need new weapons?"

 _"Course they do. Doesn't mean you have to give them any."_

"I know I don't have to, but it looks like they need them."

 _"It's up to you where you want to do with them. Just don't forget to give some of them off to Zer0 because I assume you want to be trained."_

"Yes, I do."

 _"Then set aside whatever weapons you want and give the rest to Lilith. She's in charge of all of the war efforts, like guns. Also, if you want, Scooter's old shop is a good place for you to use for designing weapons for Atlas. Marcus is your best bet for distributing those guns and making money. He's also your best bet for getting the resources that you need to make guns if you don't feel like searching for them. But you'll need plenty of cash for that. Do what you have to do,"_ Maya told him.

"Thanks. For everything," Rhys said gratefully.

 _"You're very welcome. We should be approaching our objective in the next few minutes, so I could use the time to prepare,"_ Maya said.

"No problem. I can take it from here," Rhys said, shutting off the call. He didn't half want to go there, but there was no doubt that Scooter's garage was the best place for him to work. It had a lot of space for him to work with, which was what he needed. So that's where he went.

Also, out of the time he spent putting the loot in numerous ECHOs, he decided which weapons he wanted for himself. One of the Defilers, definitely a Chimera, an Aries for those situations he was going to get shot, a Bitch(Just for the name), The Spy, and the Surkov. Plus a Stinger and an Atlas Masher. He found that SMGs, revolvers, and snipers were guns that were more his speed. At least by the feel of them in his hands. And that's exactly what he put in the ECHO that he kept for himself. Plus the guns that he was going to give out.

When Rhys walked in the door that lead to Scooter's garage, he walked inside only to see that someone was already inside. Someone who really liked wearing the color purple. He didn't even need to see her face to know it was Moxxi. Likely still grieving the loss of her child. So Rhys closed the door. He wasn't going to interrupt her. He had his and Gaige's ECHO separated from the bunch. He could just give the ECHOs to Lilith. So that's what he was going to do.

He headed up to the headquarters and he was immediately eyed by Brick who was boxing a few crates over in the corner. Rhys simply kept his head down as he held Gaige's ECHO with all of the other ECHOs carrying weapons in it. Then he walked over to Lilith, who immediately bristled with anger.

"What do you want?" she asked, her voice dripping with venom.

"I don't want anything. I have something for you," Rhys said evenly, trying not to get thrown off by her hostility.

"You have nothing to offer that we need," Mordecai spoke up.

"How about guns? Do you need those? I noticed that a lot of your men are carrying pretty common stuff," Rhys said.

"What? And you propose to get them more guns? Good luck with that," Mordecai said. Rhys didn't speak he simply emptied most of the ECHOs on the floor.

"What are doing?!" Lilith exclaimed, grabbing ahold of his metal arm. He could see that the fabric on it was burning and Rhys had to snatch his hand off to avoid damaging his sleeve even more.

"Showing you something," he said, as he emptied the ECHO he picked up on the opposite end where the ECHOs were. Out came 32 unique weapons. These ECHOs were upgraded quite nicely in holding weapons, which made getting all of the ECHOs not too frustrating at least.

"Where did you find all this loot?" Mordecai asked. Rhys could notice and interested look in his eye and he restrained himself from smiling.

"In an Atlas base in New Haven. It was one I found in my travels, and the armory was considerably well supplied after a second look. Atlas reversed engineered a lot of antique weapons because they had the plans for them and were alive until a few months ago. They consist of almost every type of weapon except rocket launchers. You can distribute them however you'd like," Rhys said.

"And you didn't think to keep them for yourself?" Mordecai asked.

"Of course I did. But I didn't. I want to earn my riches through my own work. Not the work of others. I only need a few guns for myself really. And speaking of more guns, I figured you all need a fe- gah!" Rhys yelled as a bird flew over his head. Mordecai smiled at his fear of Talon, who he was sure tear his throat out.

What no one in the room was expecting was for Talon to gently land on Rhys' left shoulder and caw softly. Rhys hesitantly stroked his metal index finger under Talon's chin, who relaxed at the touch of the cold metal.

 _"Huh. A creature on Pandora that likes me. That is not common whatsoever,"_ Rhys thought.

"What the hell Talon?" Mordecai exclaimed. Talon simply screeched loudly at Mordecai while remaining on Rhys' shoulder. Rhys couldn't help but smile at the bird. It felt good in a way he couldn't understand, having the bird on his shoulder. But what Rhys especially couldn't understand was why the bird was friendly towards him.

"Your bird seems to like me," Rhys said as his gaze drifted over towards Lilith. Rhys ALMOST laughed. It was extremely hard not to. For a second, the look on her face looked jealous. That was priceless. He had to muster all of his self control.

"Talon was always a strange one, but I never took him one to like Hyperion scumbags," Brick said.

"Ex-Hyperion," Rhys corrected, finally getting tired of them calling him a Hyperion. It was getting beyond irritating considering that was the past he wanted so desperately to leave behind.

"Hyperions don't change their spots. You are far from different," Mordecai reminded him.

"So everyone who worked for Hyperion is the same? Heh. That's cute logic," Rhys said idly. Before Mordecai could respond, Rhys had enough of the scrutiny and turned to walk out of the room. But then he looked at Talon.

"Mind getting off my shoulder? Got some work to do," Rhys told the bird. Talon willingly removed himself from his shoulder and perched himself on a shelf. Rhys turned and walked back down the stairs with a smile on his face. He already liked that bird. He made himself another friend here, which was always nice.

Rhys sat down on a bench in the center of town and just sat there while closing his eyes. He eyes were heavy from piling all of that loot into ECHOs, but it was all worth it in the long run. At least they seemed less likely to kill him anyway. Probably.

Then Rhys felt something hard hit his head. He hissed in pain and immediately grabbed the pained area. The heat he felt in that spot immediately let him know he was bleeding.

Then another rock hit the hand he had covered over the spot and Rhys immediately stood up while shaking his hand out of pain.

"God fucking dammit," Rhys said, looking towards the source of the rocks. He saw that there were a number of random citizens banded together. "Can you stop doing that?!"

"Make us Hyperion," the citizen said, tossing another rock. Rhys simply moved his body out of the way to dodge the rock before activating his ECHO eye. They wanted to throw rocks? Fine.

Several more were thrown at Rhys. His ECHO eye was able to calculate the trajectory of the rocks, so his metal arm had no trouble blocking the rocks. The ones that he couldn't grab, he ducked. They seemed to enjoy themselves, and frankly, Rhys was having fun blocking the rocks.

"Having fun?" Rhys questioned. The wound on his head hurt like hell, but he was could ignore that. Then he saw that they looked on the ground and saw that there were no more rocks around them. Rhys kept tossing the rock up and down in his hand with a smile on his face.

"Now, who wants to have rocks pelted at them first?" he asked. They immediately ran the other direction. Rhys had to roll his eyes.

 _"Bitches,"_ Rhys muttered. They started a fight only to run when it didn't go their way. That was complete cowardice. And this is coming from someone who runs from his fights more than he fights them.

Rhys sighed and threw the rock down on the ground and walked off. He didn't really plan on tossing the rocks at them, but he knew it was the quickest way to get them to leave him alone.

He walked back to Scooter's garage to see if Moxxi was still there, and he could see that she was gone. Great. Now he could set up here. He barely made it in the center of the garage before he heard a voice speak.

"I was wondering who showed up here earlier before leaving. Now I know," someone said. Rhys turned around and saw that Moxxi had walked in from behind the garage to walk inside. "This was my Scooter's place. I was always impressed with how good he was with cars. No one was better than him at it."

"I left because I thought you wanted to be alone," Rhys said.

"Or maybe you just didn't want to get caught doing something you should," Moxxi said. Rhys frowned sadly, and Moxxi did not want to admit she felt a little upset at the look.

"You know, it's sad that you believe that. But I'd say you're inclined to believe what you believe. And if you truly believe it, then nothing I can say or do will change that," Rhys said evenly. Moxxi frowned at Rhys' attitude. It was so... polite and understanding. And she didn't like it. Not one bit.

"At least you can understand why I don't like you," Moxxi said.

"Because all Hyperions have a reputation to be greedy, murdering bastards. Yeah, I've heard it all before. I've heard from Pandorans that I can officially call friends now and I'm sure I'm going to get an earful of it from others," Rhys said.

"Why are you here?" Moxxi asked.

"Because I need a place to stay," Rhys said simply.

"I meant in my son's garage," Moxxi said.

"Because it's the only place that's big enough for me to work," Rhys said.

"Work? Just what do you do? An inventor of some sorts?" Moxxi asked.

"New owner of Atlas. It's kind of my job to try and build it back up. It doesn't necessarily have a good reputation, but it's better than Hyperion," Rhys said. Moxxi eyed the Hyperion's upgrades. His eye, the Injector in his head, and his arm. Even she had to admit. It was pretty impressive work.

"So you're going to get this company off the ground? Become like Handsome Jack?" Moxxi questioned with an accusing tone. Rhys bristled with anger.

"Exactly NOT like Handsome Jack," he said hotly. Moxxi's eyes widened and she was tempted to go for her pistol. Even for a so called ex-Hyperion, that reaction was a bit much.

"Sorry, sorry," Rhys said, waving his metal arm and shaking his head. "That was a bit much. It's... it's just a sore subject for me."

"I see. But who told you that you could use this garage?" Moxxi asked.

"Technically, no one. But I won't use it if that's what you want. It's your son," Rhys said. Moxxi internally groaned. She founded it harder to hate this ex-Hyperion the more he talked. The only thing that seemed to be sustaining her ability to keep being neutral was the fact that he was an ex-Hyperion, but that was becoming less and less effective.

"Don't remove anything belonging to him out of this garage," Moxxi told Rhys firmly. She felt like she should've told him no. He used to work for Hyperion. He could be trusted. But she felt like that it just wouldn't be doing anyone a service.

"I won't. I promise. Thank you Miss Moxxi," Rhys said kindly.

"And... thank you. For informing me about Scooter. I... suppose I wouldn't have found out if it wasn't for you," Moxxi said, hating to admit it to herself.

"He also wanted you and someone named Ellie to know that he did some cool shit. And he did. You raised an excellent son," Rhys told Moxxi.

"I know," Moxxi said, closing her eyes when she could feel wetness falling down her face. Dammit, was she crying? Not again.

She immediately turned around and Rhys simply walked further into the garage and sat in a chair he found near a car. He knew that he needed to pick up on Fiona's trail that was left, but he couldn't help but stick it out here. Her and Sasha were likely doing well without him. It was a painful and bitter thing for him to swallow, but he needed to focus on the here and now.

Rhys placed his new ECHO with his weapons and Gaige's ECHO inside the broken car near the chair that he had his feet propped on and decided to catch a little sleep. It had been a long day. Hopefully Zer0 would be back soon enough so he could hand him this Cyclops. Rhys thought it would be valuable enough for him to train him. I mean, it was a pretty damn good looking Atlas sniper. If not, he'd give up a few of his weapons if he had to. Whatever it took. In no time at all, Rhys was asleep.

"Wake up!" Rhys heard said after he felt a sharp pain in his nose. Rhys grabbed his injured part of his body and tweaked it around. It was probably bleeding, but he simply wiped the blood on his sleeve and disregarded as something minor.

"Well, if you wanted me awake now, you got your wish. But did you have to do it like that?" Rhys questioned. For once, it was painful. And another is that he didn't feel like he slept very long. There wasn't a single light on in the garage, and the garage was completely closed. Rhys couldn't see a damn thing in here, so he activated the light on his metal hand. In front of him were four Crimson Raider soldiers. They could obviously see in the dark through those helmets of theirs.

"We wanted some entertainment. And you're just the type to provide it," one of the Raiders said. Rhys stood up from the chair he was sleeping in and made to walk around the car to open the garage for some light, but a Raider stepped in front of Rhys and turned him around before putting him in a chokehold. It didn't take Rhys long to figure out what they meant by fun now.

 _"Of course. Why should I even be surprised?"_ Rhys thought as he felt a fist being put into his stomach. Rhys was tempted to go for his stun baton, but what good would that do? It was his word against four Raiders who had been here for far longer than he was. And they weren't ex-Hyperions. He'd either be killed or driven out of the city, new weapons be damned. So he just stood there and toughed it out the best he could.

"Is it me, or is he taking this beating quite well?" one of the Raiders said.

"I think you're right. Is this beating doing anything for you Hyperion?" one of the Raiders said.

"Ex-Hyperion," Rhys ground out, his ribs reacting painfully to his decision to speak. "And my answer is the one that will make this end faster." He got a punch in his gut for that cheeky remark.

"Then by saying you're ex-Hyperion means you admit you deserve this beating? For working for the company that nearly ended us all?" one of the Raiders said.

"If it makes you feel better," Rhys said dully. He couldn't be bothered to put much effort in convincing them not to beat his ass. That wouldn't work, and he knew it. Rhys knew they wouldn't be as reasonable as Gaige or Moxxi, so why bother trying?

"Well, let's see how you like if we take that shiny arm of yours?" one of the Raiders said.

"You are not touching that," Rhys said hotly before he could even stop himself. There was no way they were going to take his arm. He'd be driven out Sanctuary before he'd let them do that. He didn't have the supplies to make a new one. Plus it was his only bit of work that he had done as a new man. A better one. The Raiders simply laughed.

"Oh, that got you to say something out of the ordinary, didn't it? Your body and your pretty little face can take all of the punching we can give it, but it's your arm that really gets to you, huh? Just what even happened to your normal one? Did it go away along with your humanity when you joined Hyperion?" another Raider asked.

"No. Dahl took it when they raided the base years ago. They rounded up all of the Hyperions they could and started torturing them before execution. The Vault Hunters that Jack hired back then are the reason I'm even alive. Hyperion also replaced my lost arm with one before it got torn off and I had to replace it again. Contrary to popular belief, I was loyal to the company because of what they did for me and the good I thought they were doing," Rhys explained. Come to think of it, he never really told anyone about his arm. Mostly cause they had never asked, but it was a major factor as to why he joined Hyperion and stuck with them after Handsome Jack's death. He knew that his actions on Pandora proved to be dishonorable, but he was hoping that he could change the company around if he and his friends were in charge.

"You know something? I think he might actually is being honest with us," one of the Raiders said.

"Do you?" one of his friends asked.

"Nah! You can't really trust anything that comes out of a Hyperion's mouth," the first Raider said.

" _EX-_ Hyperion," Rhys said, his tone getting somewhat irritated now. "I'm trying to leave that name behind."

"But it's there. You should've stuck with lying to us about what you were in the first place," the second Raider said.

"Now that would already start me off lying here, wouldn't it? And that's something I did not want to do to you all," Rhys said honestly.

"Whatever your reasons, they are not helping you any. Because we don't care. A lot of your Hyperion friends killed a lot of good people here, you know that?" the first Raider asked.

"Yes I know that, but they were certainly not my friends," Rhys said. At Hyperion, ninety nine times out of ninety nine point nine, you would run into a straight asshole. But it was to be expected after about a month in the company's service. At least, until Vaughn joined the company and he met Yvette.

"You're all bonded in your fucked up actions," another Raider said. Then Rhys could feel himself being released, but an onslaught of punches and kicks followed right after he fell to the ground. Some of them hit already injured parts of his body, so the pain was doubled.

Rhys felt like he was getting beaten for an eternity before they stopped. Rhys bit his tongue at the urge to call them bandits. On Pandora, there were no good guy, no bad guys. Everyone had their own agenda, and they were willing to do almost anything to achieve that agenda. Rhys, these Raiders, Handsome Jack even? They were far from different from being part of that norm.

"When you lie in your pool of blood for a little while longer and you manage to find the strength, crawl over to this hypo and fix yourself up," one of the Raiders said right before Rhys heard something fall to the ground.

"Don't worry. We'll be back again when we get bored," another one said. Then he could hear their footsteps fade away, signaling they were gone.

Rhys turned over from on his side and onto his back, his chest rising and falling steadily. His face felt like a bloody mess, his ribs felt like shit, and his left arm felt dislocated. All in all, he expected worse. At least they didn't take his metal arm. He was glad for that.

"Man, this just turns things from bad to worse," Rhys thought as he crawled over to the hypo that the Raiders left for him. Rhys hated to think about how much longer this was going to go on.

* * *

A/N: Yes, I am going for an abusive and bullying role when it comes to the citizens of Sanctuary. Cause lets face it. They use all other captured Hyperions as target practice, so beating him isn't all that bad when you compare the two. It's going to end, of course, but we'll get to that later. See ya!


	4. Chapter 4 - Training Montage!

A/N: Been over a month. Hot damn. Sorry it took me so long to get back into this. Was kind of turned off cause I wrote ahead on this, but I lost my flash drive, which contained it, so yeah. Problems. But we're moving on.

* * *

Rhys rubbed his eyes as he woke up from his sleep. He didn't see the Raiders from last night that kicked the shit out of him being too much of a problem. They likely just wanted to prove a point. That he was definitely not untouchable and they would not hesitate to kill him if he stepped out of line. To which Rhys could understand. But if they did become a consistent problem, there was nothing that they could dish out that Rhys couldn't take. No. His mind was more focused on the things he needed to do.

First, there was some Atlas work to be done. But he needed supplies for that. He could get help from Gaige in retrieving some parts. They would be pretty outdated, but some was better than none. Scavenging Helios for some useful tech wouldn't be a bad idea either. Though it was probably crawling with bandits by now. Rhys wanted to wait until Zer0 had given him a little hands on training before he decided to go down there. The bandits would definitely keep anything that looked like it was worth anything, so he didn't have to worry that much.

While walking back to the center of town, Rhys had his metal hand open on the map of the Drylands, which was the Atlas base where they had found the bio-dome. It was likely to have a lot better tech than the one in Old Haven. That's exactly what Rhys was counting on. If Cassius or even Vaughn was there, it would only be a big bonus for him.

"Hey, Hyperion!" someone yelled at him as Rhys was pacing in the center of town. Rhys ignored him. 'Hyperion' was no longer who he was or who he represented. His name was Rhys, who was a person and the new face of Atlas. No matter who it was, they wouldn't get a response if they registered him by anything other Rhys or Atlas. Perhaps maybe every once in a while for a correction, but that was about it.

"I'm talking to you jackass!" the man yelled, but Rhys continued to ignore him and focus on the map. He had things to do that were definitely more important than him. "Fine. Have it your way, scum."

Rhys tensed up before looking out of the corner of his eye at the man. He saw that the man picked up a rock that was the size of Rhys' fist and was about to chuck it at him. Rhys saw the rock coming towards him and ducked the rock before turning towards him angrily. The man instantly turned tail at Rhys' look and Rhys had to restrain himself from losing his temper and sticking his stun baton in a place that would most definitely prove uncomfortable for the denizen.

But Rhys was here to make an impression, and doing that would very much make a bad one. Plus he was not ready to fight off pretty much the whole city for butt raping a mouthy citizen with his stun baton. To even think about such a thing would've freaked Rhys out a few weeks ago. Not now. Not anymore.

"I see you're finally up," Gaige said, walking up to Rhys. Rhys turned and smiled at the teen at her approach. She was his first real friend in this place. They had pretty much forgotten the fact that they had tried to kill each other. Well, pretty much.

"Can you blame me for sleeping in? Yesterday was pretty heavy," Rhys said.

"At least Lilith didn't burn your face off like I expected her to do," Gaige said.

"Yeah, tell that to my sleeve," Rhys said, holding out the burned part of his sleeve.

"I didn't see her do that," Gaige said, grabbing Rhys' arm and inspecting the damage for herself.

"This happened when I went to take her those weapons. My arm's inflammable, so it's fine," Rhys said, shrugging.

"Yeah, but I bet she didn't know that," Gaige said, her tone half angry before muttering under her breath. "God, she's such a bitch." Rhys held his peace on that one. It sounded like things were not friendly between Gaige and the Siren. He refused to mention her by her name since she refused to address him by his.

"I can help with that. Take off the jacket," Gaige said. Rhys didn't question and handed his jacket over to Gaige. She then put the jacket in her ECHO before turning back to Rhys.

"I'll get someone I know to fix it up later. Anyway, you got any plans?" Gaige asked me.

"I need to head back to the Atlas bases and pick up some tools. Do me a favor?" Rhys questioned, his expression somewhat hesitant as if she was going to react like one of the other citizens would if Rhys asked.

"Only if you let me use some of the supplies," Gaige said.

"Of course. You don't even have to ask," Rhys said without hesitation. He was sure whatever she came up with was going to be amazing as well. He knew that she would be a topnotch inventor. But he knew there was more to teach her. This place would have it's rewards as well as its challenges. But Rhys was pretty sure he was prepared.

"Alright, there's the base in the Drylands and then there's a more thorough search in the base in Old Haven. I can mark both of these locations on your map for you," Rhys said, bringing up a screen on his ECHO arm and forwarding the directions to Gaige's ECHO. The both of them heard a beep, and Gaige looked at her ECHO before putting it back on her waist and looking back at Rhys.

"Alright. In the meantime, you go talk to Zer0 and get some practice in. He told you to meet him by the Fast Travel in The Highlands when you got a sufficient enough item for him. It does you no good to be broke _and_ defenseless, so change that as soon as possible. Your plans for your company can wait until you're done with that," Gaige advised Rhys, who nodded.

"I can definitely agree with that. I'll see you when I get back?" Rhys questioned.

"We'll see Rhys. Until then, I bid you adieu," Gaige said before walking away and heading towards the Fast Travel. Rhys followed her example and walked towards the Fast Travel with his ECHO at his belt.

While walking, Rhys saw that two Raiders who were talking to each other previously were now looking dead at Rhys, who forced himself to look away. He could not afford any more problems with these bastards than was possible. It was best to keep his head down. So he quickly went towards the Fast Travel in a type of fast walk and traveled to The Highlands like Gaige told him.

His first sight was the assassin mediating on his left, directly in front of the ammo vendor. Cause of the mask, it was really hard to tell whether Zer0 had his eyes open or not. But he was obviously in complete focus.

"You have something for me?" Zer0 questioned suddenly, making Rhys jump. It took him a few seconds to gather his bearings, but Rhys recovered and summoned the Cyclops sniper to his hands and held it out to Zer0. He held out a hand towards the sniper and stood before putting it in his ECHO. The assassin said nothing as he walked down the hill. Rhys wasn't sure if he was satisfied, but Rhys followed him down. Though the sight of the stalkers below made him hesitate.

"You want training? / You make it down here alive / Prove your worth," Zer0 said as he kept walking before instantly turning invisible on the spot. Rhys eyed the stalkers hesitantly, but he tightened his fists before steeling his nerves and followed Zer0 down the slope while drawing a Masher. It seemed like the best weapon of choice for him right now.

Upon the sight of Rhys, the stalkers immediately disappeared and Rhys activated his ECHO eye to get a trace on them. Unfortunately, his panic made him forget that his ECHO eye did not compensate for invisibility. It didn't adapt to the sensors, used thermal, or anything of the sort. It just scanned. He had to change that. First thing on his list after training

So Rhys cut off the eye and saw a patch of dust shift at one spot. Immediately, Rhys turned his gun hand towards that spot and shot. But he didn't seem to hit anything. But with a closer look, he saw that the stalker's imprint was still there slightly. It wasn't perfect invisibility after all.

So he squinted a little to keep his eyes on the concealed stalker and took aim it before pulling the trigger twice without hesitation. There wasn't much recoil for him, gratefully, but there was still enough to make him miss. By the time he could gather his bearings for another shot, the other stalkers had revealed themselves before shooting their sharpened tails at Rhys like projectiles. Most of them missed, but one nailed Rhys directly in his shoulder and he yelled out in pain. That's when he realized he forgot to put on his shield as well. Man, Rhys was not good at this in the least bit.

Rhys ignored the burning in his shoulder before focusing on the nearest stalker to him and shot at it. He managed to hit it, but its shield protected it from taking any real damage. So he adjusted his aim slightly before spamming the trigger. He managed to get past his shield, but it wasn't dead. But that wasn't all he got past. His mag was empty. He couldn't even summon another clip to his hand before a stalker pounced on him.

Rhys' blood was pounding in his ears, and the adrenaline in his heart was only fueling his desire to react. So he quickly swapped out his pistol for his Stinger SMG and held the trigger while the barrel was pointing upward at the stalker's stomach. It took less than half the clip before Rhys could hear the stalker squeal in pain followed by something warm falling on Rhys' shirt, which he knew was the stalker's insides. He didn't even care about how disgusting it was at the time before rolling from under the stalker and holding his Stinger up while eyeing the remaining four of them. But before he forgot, he ripped the stalker's projected tail out of his shoulder before slapping on his shield.

 _"God, how'd I forget to put on a shield? I'm an idiot,"_ Rhys thought to himself as he looked at the other stalkers he was up against.

They opted for turning invisible again, but this time Rhys was on to their tactics. He squinted his eyes again for their silhouette, and upon seeing the first stalker, immediately turned his SMG toward that direction and shot it. He managed to hit it in the head quite a few times, and its head exploded when the clip was on seven. He was glad his ECHO was keeping count of his mag and ammo count for him. That was very useful for him. But Rhys decided on tossing out the seven bullets and go for a fresh clip of thirty-two.

But before Rhys' very eyes, he saw that by an invisible force, the stalkers were quickly chopped in half. Rhys stood up straight before Zer0 appeared out of his invisibility and walked towards Rhys.

"Sloppy start. But you manged to survive in the end," Zer0 said in an emotionless voice.

"Surviving is seemingly what I do best," Rhys said with a sheepish smile.

"It is not good enough. You would've been dead if you had to fight bandits along with those creatures," Zer0 said in a voice full of scrutiny, seemingly ignoring his nature to talk in haiku. "Your real training starts now." Rhys couldn't help but feel excited and terrified at the idea of what Zer0 had in store for him.

"What do I do?" he asked.

"Simply defend yourself," Zer0 said idly before turning invisible. Rhys looked confused before he felt a sharp blow hit the side of his head. Then it was followed by another one. And another one. And another one. (Where Khaled at?) Rhys turned at each blow, but he had no way to predict where they were coming from. And the blows started coming faster and faster as time moved on. Within seconds, Rhys was forced to the ground. The blows stopped immediately when he was forced to the ground and Zer0 revealed himself again.

"To truly defend yourself / See not with your eyes / See with your instincts," Zer0 told Rhys, going back to his haiku. Rhys tried to shake off the pain of Zer0's blows, but they were hindering him considerably as he struggled to his feet. The assassin let off a type of sigh.

"Let's try this from a different approach," he said.

* * *

"Keep going," Zer0 said over the ECHO, his legs crossed as he surveyed Rhys from a distance through the scope of his sniper.

Rhys' face was red from strain as he willed himself to keep moving. Zer0 was a taskmaster. That was for certain. The assassin was making Zer0 run laps around The Dust. BAREFOOTED, he might add. The sand seemed to be hotter than lava as he stood on it. This was not the first time he had to do something like this, though walking through the hot sand barefooted was new. And it was far from over. What was this, the first few hours? He then had more hours of whatever other task Zer0 had for him. They trained sixty-five out of ninety hours of the Pandoran day. It was an intense thing to have to deal with. For the past few weeks, Rhys was often left exhausted and in pain. A lot of those times, he didn't even get hit.

These barefooted runs continued. Rhys felt like he had to hop on the sand a few times, but every time he did, Zer0 would fire a shot near his feet as a warning sign that it was not allowed. But that was about all they did. No gun training, no close combat, or anything of the sort. Just endurance training. These days were absolute agony on his feet throughout the days. It only got worse when Zer0 started tying Alpha Skag corpses to his feet. Those things weighed a ton. It was like trying to trudge through a quagmire while stepping on lava rocks every step of the way.

Then there was the hand and arm training. Zer0 often had him smack his hand against skag hides repeatedly before making him hang off the edge of Sanctuary. _Only using his human hand._ While it was bloody, sore, and completely riddled with pain. The longest he ever lasted on those was a minute before his hand let go and Zer0 had to catch him. But Rhys dealt with it. He powered through it with everything he had. But he couldn't see how this was helping matters. He didn't even have a chance to work on his mechanical projects with all of this training. He was practically hospitalized at the end of every run. And Zer0 allowed no hypos after, which was the really fucked up part. But at one point, Rhys discovered why.

Rhys had been hitting the skag hides for hours now. During this times, pain tears had come to Rhys' face and he bit his tongue a lot to stuff down the pain. But this time... he felt nothing. His hands were a bloody mess. Scratched, bruised, and every other thing you could think of. But he kept lashing out with his hands, and he didn't feel a thing. Rhys frowned. This was definitely unusual. He even sped up the rate of his hands strikes to the hide. But he still felt nothing. It was almost like his hands was just coming into contact with his other hands. Well, when he had a second human hand. It just felt completely painless. Just like his feet during the shoe less runs now.

"Stop," Zer0 suddenly said. Rhys immediately stopped striking the skag hide and looked towards Zer0, who had drawn his digistruct sword. Before Rhys could say anything, he impaled it into Rhys' hand. While his eyes widened in horror at the sight, he calmed down only to find out that the blade in his hand only stung. It wasn't excruciatingly painful like he expected. Zer0 removed the blade out of Rhys' hand without a word.

"Pick up that crate," Zer0 said, pointing to the crate in question. Rhys tipped the crate forward only slightly so he could get his hand under it. When he started to raise it up, he found it hard to balance it. But that was about the only thing he had a problem with. The crate didn't feel heavy. His hands didn't feel like they were going to fall off. It was weird. Very weird.

"You've finally made it past the first phase / I must admit this / That's awfully fast for a human," Zer0 said idly as he summoned a hypo and injected it into a vein in Rhys' human arm.

"I don't feel anything. Just... what..."

"Your body does not respond to pain as violently as it used to. Neither does your feet, which happened a lot quicker than your hand. You have also grown a considerable amount of strength in your human arm. Which was the purpose of these exercises. For you to be able to tackle pain head on. We can now move on," Zer0 explained.

"To what?" Rhys questioned.

"This, I will allow you to decide. Since you have proven you are determined to a fault," Zer0 said. Rhys thought about it for a minute. There were plenty of useful skills that the assassin could teach him. Stealth. Combat. Gun skills. His tech would only make it easier. Especially after he practiced.

"I would love to start with stealth, but I haven't installed that invisibility machine into my arm yet," Rhys said.

"There are other ways to practice the art of stealth other than invisibility. Stealth killing(which made Rhys smile), sneaking, and espionage. In combat, I offer you a chance to develop your own style of fighting your enemies close up. We will practice combat in the city. No need to remain here," Zer0 said.

"What about gun play? I -"

"With practice you can master that yourself," Zer0 interrupted. "With an adjustment to the recoil, steady arms, and a practiced eye are the only requirements. After we finish with talents I can teach you, you may practice that on your own. Make your decision now. Combat or stealth."

"Stealth," Rhys said immediately. He still wanted to know how to snap necks. Sasha made it look so easy back at the base. He couldn't wait until he could do that himself.

"Very well. But to know stealth means you cannot be deceived yourself. We shall work on that first," Zer0 said. Rhys nodded. He rubbed his human hand with his fingers, and couldn't help but notice how rough and callous his human hand felt. His hand used to feel soft. Now it was rougher than a brick.

* * *

Rhys focused on the soft pitter patter on the steps that he could _just_ hear before raising a hand to block the blow heading his way. The blow had force to it, but he couldn't feel the pain of it. His fingers closed around the fist before lashing out his metal hand to push them back.

"Oof! You're getting better at this," Gaige said, who had graciously offered to help on these tests. Zer0 couldn't really train against Zer0 cause the assassin was a master at not getting caught. A novice of learning to detect the invisible wouldn't stand a chance.

"I would certainly hope so. Come on. Re-position yourself and let's go again," Rhys said, cracking his neck by moving it to the left. They were currently in The Highlands, which was the perfect place for them to practice. The ambiance of the place flooded Rhys' ears with noise. Not too much to be annoying, but enough noise to where it was subtly messing with how he heard things. Now he was getting used to the those little sounds and how to distinguish them from the sounds of steps. There were a lot of approaches to stealth that Rhys had never even thought of. It was pretty insane when you thought about it.

"No need. I find myself satisfied. If you are not, you may practice if you wish. Now to go about approaching your foe. Gaige, that is all for now. You may depart," Zer0 said, subtly dismissing her. Gaige caught the hint and gave Rhys a smile and a wave goodbye before walking back towards the Fast Travel.

"Most humans walk the wrong way all the time. You are no exception. Not only can walking heel first cause physical problems, it cause problems in walking quietly. Walking toes first is much quieter. Much more deliberate and even faster than walking heel first if you focus your running with it. And that is what we will practice here. Walking with shoes is recommended because we do not want to cause too much damage to your feet. Plus it is extremely difficult to forget not feeling pain in your feet. We will go back to The Dust and have you run again. Your endurance is satisfactory enough to where we can do this plenty," Zer0 explained.

"So I just practice running on the tip of feet rather than the heel. Seems simple enough," Rhys said.

"You will have to learn it outside of training as well. Which is why we will move to combat as you adjust to that particular style. Focus on standing, walking, and running on the tip of your feet rather than the heel. Employ this in combat, and you will be lighter on your feet, therefore harder to hit and quicker in your attacks just from your stance," Zer0 told Rhys, who nodded. He was ready to get started. He had some a long way. He was ready to keep it going.

* * *

A/N: I'm going to cut it off here because I'm doing more time jumps. Ones that I really can't do to make an interesting chapter. So next chapter, we'll move on to when things are more interesting. Don't worry. The next chapter is coming ASAP since in neglected to update this for so long.


	5. Chapter 5 - Hesitancy to Fury

Rhys moved his hands at a fast enough pace to deflect the assassin's blows. He knew that the assassin was not moving as fast as he possibly could in his strikes, but he was still moving dangerously fast. Until Rhys got faster, there was no way he'd be able to keep up with his attacks. This would have to do for now.

"Faster," Zer0 suddenly said before the rate of his punches got faster. Rhys' eyes widened before he started frantically moving hands. It was faster, but far more sloppy. It did not take long for the assassin to penetrate Rhys' guard and jab him five times in the ribs at a fast rate before doing a 360 and kicking him down on the ground hard. Rhys clutched at his chest from the assassin's blows. They were fast, but they sure as hell hurt and left him breathless.

"You got careless / Never get careless / Get up and try again," Zer0 told Rhys. Rhys rose to his feet and shook his hands while loosening himself up. Rhys nodded at Zer0 who immediately lunged at Rhys, but he raised his hand at the assassin's blow. But his second fist immediately started heading towards his face, instead of raising his other fist, he ducked the assassin's blows and for the first time in training, decided to lash out at the assassin with a palm strike to his stomach. For the assassin, he was sloppy as Rhys' fist was an inch away from his stomach before he deflected it away from his stomach. The small time frame between the blow gave Zer0 no room to grab it and counter instead of deflecting.

"Surprised?" Rhys said idly as he swung for a roundhouse to Zer0's head right after the assassin deflected his hand. Zer0 grabbed his roundhouse kick, but Rhys made for a kick to his his head with other leg, which Zer0 also grabbed. Before the assassin could throw Rhys for a hard knockdown, Rhys was able to sit up on the assassin as he was holding his legs and hold the back of his head while punching the assassin's helmet several times. But the damage did just about no damage to his helmet before Rhys was tossed into a building.

 _"Why did I think that would work?"_ Rhys thought as he rose to his feet.

"Your own technique?" Zer0 questioned as Rhys began circling him.

"Call it a quick idea," Rhys said, shaking off the pain in his shoulder. Zer0 looked at Rhys for a few moments before speaking.

"You may break for a few weeks. I expect your performance to be on par with the kind of the last few weeks. I will push even further if that happens," he said. Rhys nodded and walked away before rubbing his shoulder. He hit that building harder than he would've liked. That was going to annoy himlater

He walked back inside Scooter's garage before raising his ECHO hand to contact Gaige with. He got no answer. Rhys simply shrugged. She was likely on another job. Rhys didn't mind. A lot of times she had things to do. That was fine with him. But of course she was the one with the tech that Rhys needed to design anything. So he was left with practically nothing.

 _"How about target practice?"_ Rhys thought to himself. The idea definitely had its merits. For one, he wasn't sure how good his aim was. And out in the field, he didn't want to take any chances. There was a shooting range in Marcus' gun shop, which Zer0 had told him in case he ever decided to start on whatever free time Zer0 gave him. Which wasn't much. He figured he'd start now.

As Rhys walked towards the direction of the shooting range, it was then he noticed that he felt... different. Not physically, mind you. He had gotten used to that adjustment a while ago. No, it was something different about the way he carried himself. He didn't hold his head down. He didn't rush through the city. He kept a confident stride as he walked. Not cocky, but just confident. Assured of himself. It felt good too.

"What are you doing?" Rhys suddenly heard a voice say. He turned to see that Mordecai was next to him with a lager in his hand and a suspicious tone in his voice.

"To the shooting range," Rhys told him.

"I thought Zer0 normally has you working," Mordecai said. Rhys couldn't half believe that people had been so ignorant to the outside world, that they hadn't seen that Zer0 had been training him. Only the people who patrolled the area really saw what they were doing.

"He decided to give me a break. You can confirm it with him if you wish," Rhys said. Mordecai took a few steps forward and Rhys tensed up. He wasn't sure what the man was going to do.

"Listen, uh... let's get a few things straight..." Mordecai said.

"Am I going to get the 'don't step out of line or I'll kill you' speech? Cause I've already gotten it from your soldiers plenty of times," Rhys said.

"But you haven't gotten it from me. You may have gotten a few of our Vault Hunters fooled, but Hyperions never change their spots," Mordecai said.

"You know, I'm going to say this again. It's said that you all believe that. But hey. Like I said the last time, if that's truly what you believe, I can't change that opinion. But know this. If you believe that all old Hyperions enjoyed working there, then you're a fool," Rhys bit at the man.

"What'd you just say to me?" Mordecai growled.

"If I'm a murdering, lying Hyperion scumbag, then you're not as drunk as you look," Rhys bit at the sniper, an obvious jab at his inability to hold his liquor. "Stop treating me like an outcast when I've done nothing to warrant it." And on that note, Rhys turned on his heel and continued walking towards the range.

Rhys certainly felt a little thrilled saying that to the man, but couldn't help but feel that it was really risky. That could've easily escalated to violence, which would've been a very risky thing as far as Rhys was concerned. If he lost, he probably would've been killed. If he won, it was his word against a bunch of people who hated him as to who started it. It was a no-brainer as to who would win that argument.

"Ah! I was wondering when you'd arrive! Do you have any designs for me?" Marcus questioned. Rhys realized that Gaige had obviously told Marcus that he planned on designing weapons for Atlas. And of course, he would need someone to aid him in getting those weapons out to the world. But first things first, he needed to finish his training with Rhys and finish the stuff he had planned to aid him in the field. Then he would get to working on Atlas.

"Not quite yet. First things first, I have to learn to survive on this damnable planet. Then I'll get working on some designs for you," Rhys promised him. "My reason for coming are to practice in the range for a bit."

"Ah, but of course! If you need more ammo, there is more to buy in the vendor next to you," Marcus said, pointing to the green vendor on Rhys' left.

"But of course. The sooner I get my practice done, the sooner you'll have those designs," Rhys said before turning to the door of the range. Rhys noticed that the thing that he was going to be aiming at was a bloody man hanging on a slider, obviously tortured and beaten. Rhys barely blinked at the man before summoning his Chimera revolver.

"I know you," the man suddenly croaked out. "Even years later, you don't look that much different." His voice certainly hadn't got much use from how cracked it sounded. Rhys looked at the man strangely.

"I don't know you," he said.

"Think back. What am I thinking? How could you remember? You were just a naive little six year old at the time. My, my, you don't look that much different, but so much different at the same time," the man said with a grin.

"How do you know me?" Rhys questioned hesitantly, almost afraid of the answer.

"Ah, ah, ah. I can't kiss and tell now," the man said, obviously enjoying himself. "I think it'd be an insult to your mother, wouldn't you think so?"Rhys froze while the man threw his head back and laughed while looking like some sort of demented scarecrow.

"Oops. Did I say that out loud?" he said with a twisted smile.

"How do you know my mother?" Rhys said, his voice trembling slightly.

"I'm not telling you a damn thing unless you can get me out of this situation. Is info about your mommy worth that much to you?" the man said in a mocking tone. Rhys didn't even think about climbing over the barrier, but the next thing he knew was that his metal hand was closed around the man's throat. His laughs suddenly turned into desperate chokes.

"Tell me," Rhys said, his voice suddenly steady and a lot more threatening. He suddenly sounded like he knew what he was doing.

"How about I give ya a little piece," the man said, causing Rhys to loosen up his grip in the man's throat. "'Hey kid, how about we go for a walk? Mommy and the men have some business to talk about,'" the man said in a type of narrative tone.

Then Rhys suddenly froze. He felt his feet touch ground even though they were inside. He placed his hands to his forehead and backpedaling away from the man until he hit the barrier. But the man's smile got even wider at Rhys' reaction. He was definitely enjoying what he was doing to Rhys.

"Ah, so you do know. But do you _really_ know? I bet you don't. I'm not even sure you know who really killed her?" the man taunted before his eyes widened a small amount. He likely intended on toying with Rhys for as long as possible, but he gave away more than he initially intended.

In no time at all, to the mindless actions of even Rhys himself, both of his hands closed around the man's throat, intended to choke the life out of him. The fury in him sparked him faster than he ever thought possible. The fury was accompanied my murderous anger and a thirst for vengeance. Things that Rhys never thought was in him to feel.

Rhys' heart sped up, but there was something else. A type of rush, a type of fun he felt in doing this. The feelings were barely coherent when compared with his anger, but it was still there.

Rhys' grip only grew tighter and tighter, and he couldn't understand why the man wasn't dead yet. He was obviously holding on for his life for some reason as Rhys choked him. But at the same time, Rhys realized he wasn't holding the man his tightest grip. Never before had Rhys felt so angry. So murderous.

"Rhys!" someone suddenly exclaimed. In that moment, Rhys' grip tightened so fast in that instant, that he heard and felt the man's neck snap in his hands. He felt his neck itself feeling like a deflated balloon as he held it in his hands. He then turned to the person who had called out for him, and it just so happened to be Gaige. He stepped over the barrier and walked up to her, his expression caught between exhilarated and interested.

"Come on. I've got somewhere for us to go," Gaige said, trying her best to ignore the fact that Rhys had broken the neck of one of the shooting dummies. Just what was the point? He was dead anyway. Something about that kill was more personal. She knew that.

"Alright. Lead the way," Rhys said. Gaige turned to lead him out, but Rhys stopped to talk to Marcus on the way out.

"I didn't get much shooting done, but you're still going to have to replace that dummy," he told him as he walked out.

* * *

A/N: This was initially supposed to be a longer chapter, but I cut it in half. I just wanted to take things a little slow, but not too slow. Hope you enjoyed this. I love adding these tragic backgrounds to Rhys cause I can easily see that he's a victim of tragedy more than a willing volunteer of Hyperion. With his attitude, I just don't see. And there's so much I can do with Rhys' background with the creativity of others and my own creativity. Trust me, some stuff I read online gives me ideas for this stuff. Hope you enjoyed this! I've been a roll on updates lately.


	6. Chapter 6 - Fury Becomes Rage

A/N: I ended up delaying this a lot longer than I initially intended. Sorry about that. Also, I don't know what the fuck is with my documents, but it's like italicized words seem to disappear when I type them. So if you see words missing on your end, that's why.

* * *

Loud music pumped into Rhys' ears as he walked into the bar. His vision became flooded with purple upon walking in. He looked up above the bar and saw "Moxxi's" in purple neon letters above the bar. From what little he knew of the woman, he could tell that this theme was so her. Extravagant and flashy.

Rhys saw that numerous bar patrons were looking at him with disgust, but he ignored them and continued to follow Gaige, who was the one who had led him to this spot. Speaking of Gaige...

"Hey, I know he's a good looking guy, but you don't have to stare so much," she said. Rhys couldn't stop himself from bursting out laughing at Gaige's insinuation. But it certainly stopped the looks.

"You're crazy," Rhys said, trying to subside his chuckles as they sat down.

"That makes your crazier for hanging around me," Gaige retorted with a grin.

"Hey, I didn't say I wasn't crazy. I just said you were," Rhys said with a grin of his own. Gaige stood and walked to the bar to get them both drinks. Rhys crossed his leg over his knee and put his arms over the edge of his seat. On the outside, he looked to be completely relaxed. On the inside, however, his mind was a grueling pile of angst.

Hyperion had looked him in the face with a smile his whole life and pretended like they rescued him from Pandora. Only they had destroyed his family. Just like so many others on Pandora. The thought was sickening to him. Damn Hyperion. Damn Handsome Jack. Damn himself for allowing himself to be lied to his whole life.

"Hey, you ok?" Gaige asked him as she came back with the drinks.

"Fine. Just a little distracted. Take a seat Junior," Rhys said with a teasing smirk. Gaige returned the smirk with a feverish glint in her eyes.

"Who you calling Junior, grandpa?" she jabbed back at him. Rhys had a wide smile on his face as he uncapped his lager and took a swig, Gaige following suit. The two raised their bottles and they made a distinct "clink" as they made contact.

"To life and all that other stereotypical bullshit!" Gaige exclaimed. Rhys laughed before taking another deep swig. But the next thing he knew, his lager was more than half gone.

"You told me that you didn't drink much when I suggested we come here. This is you not drinking much?" Gaige questioned, her expression truly bewildered.

"I've had a long day. Excuse me if I seem like I down lagers everyday," Rhys said.

"Eh. I can understand that. Even if I didn't, I don't judge. Most of the time at least," Gaige said.

"That's reassuring," Rhys said dryly.

"Look at us. Having a conversation as if you didn't break someone's neck five minutes ago," Gaige said idly, causing Rhys to stiffen before slowly lowering the lager he raised to his mouth.

"And you're concerned about this why?" Rhys asked, his tone somewhat icy.

"Cause I don't take you for the type to murder anyone or thing randomly, much less get up close and personal to snap the neck of a Hyperion targeting dummy," Gaige said evenly.

"I was a little pissed off. Let's just leave it at that," Rhys said.

"Alright. If that's how you want to leave it," Gaige said evenly, taking a sip from the lager in her hands.

"What's this I hear about necks being snapped?" Moxxi asked, walking up to them.

"Rhys snapped the neck of the recent shooting range dummy," Gaige said nonchalantly. Rhys didn't look away from the lager in his hands, but his ears did go slightly red.

"Is that right? Well, it was a dead man hanging anyway," Moxxi said, placing a hand on her hip.

As Rhys sipped on his lager, he felt awkward sitting here. Considering everything that was going through his head, it was a wonder he wasn't going insane. Maybe he was and he just didn't know it yet.

But then Rhys saw the shadow next to him shift before he heard a soft squish into a seat. By the sound of things, Moxxi had taken a seat with them. Great. That made trying to forget the memory of Scooter dying and him having to tell her ten times harder to not in the current situation, much less forget about it.

"How are you sugar?" Moxxi asked. Only she happened to be looking at Rhys, not Gaige when she said that.

"Rhys," Gaige said. Rhys opened his eyes and noticed that Moxxi's eyes were on him. He expected her to be addressing Gaige, not him. Her question was aimed at him the entire time, which Rhys could suppose was progress.

"Oh, fine. Just a little exhausted," Rhys said before thinking, _"Of bullshit..."_

"Yeah, I've heard that Zer0 has you doing a bunch of stuff for him, though I never heard what it was," Moxxi said. She saw a little more than just exhaustion on the man's face. He obviously had his secrets. Of which seemed to be stressing him out. Moxxi couldn't tell if they were just really personal or really sinister. Could be either one.

"Yeah, he's giving Rhys a little tutoring. You could say that he's taken a liking of him," Gaige told Moxxi.

Rhys pondered over her words. Sure he had to give Zer0 some incentive to train him, but who's to say that he was special cause he was training him? It did seem like the assassin was trying his hardest to get Rhys to his fullest potential. Not only was Zer0 a skilled trainer and a hard taskmaster, but at times, he was a wise mentor.

Zer0 told him to plan out his approach and result before making it happen less than a second after.(Sound familiar?) Do something that was in his limits to do, and his job was to make that as little things as possible. Very sound advice that made a lot of sense, and advice he would be sure to use in the future.

"Getting taught by tall, dark, and mysterious? Wonder what that's like," Moxxi said with a small wisp in her voice. A tone of wonder and curiosity.

"It's tough," Rhys said simply, swirling his lager around rather than drinking it. Moxxi could see that he wasn't lying when he said that. Even then, she could believe it. Zer0 did seem like the type to tell you to not fall behind without giving you a bit of help or slowing down for you.

"Have you heard from Scooter yet?" Gaige asked, trying to divert attention away from Zer0's training with Zer0. She brought him here in the first place to get away from that subject, not just to get back into it.

Upon hearing his name, Rhys' grip tightened so hard on the lager in his hand that it shattered instantly. It was a loud, distinct sound throughout the bar and the whole place was silenced for a moment. Rhys' face, while also being covered in alcohol, was very pale. His eyes were somewhat transparent; almost completely devoid of any emotion except shock. His hand was also still elevated like he was still holding the glass.

Moxxi had frozen from Gaige's statement initially, but the sound of shattering glass and the small droplet of alcohol that hit her in the eye brought her back to the present quickly. She furiously rubbed her eye from the irritation it started to bring. It was going to be very red from all the rubbing, but she didn't care.

"Excuse me," Rhys said, sloshing the alcohol of his metal hand onto the floor before standing up and, moving at a speed walking pace, quickly made his way out of the door. Moxxi silently cursed. She figured she could get a better idea of what was going on in the Hyperion's head if she got a few drinks in him. Wasn't much of a chance of that happening now.

"The hell was that?" Gaige asked, bewildered at Rhys storming out like that. Moxxi looked out of the door Rhys walked out of with a curious look. Did he tell _anyone_ besides her?

But instead of going further into it, she decided to turn to Gaige and address a different subject.

"Follow me into the back sugar," Moxxi said, standing up and moving behind her bar counter to get to a door. She grabbed a small towel and used it to wipe the small drops of the lager that were on her face and clothes before tossing it to Gaige.

"Get the stuff off you and just toss it anywhere," Moxxi told her. Gaige ran to the towel over her clothes that had a few drops on them and her face. She had to turn the towel over because there were a few drops of makeup on the side Moxxi used.

"You might want to check you makeup," Gaige told Moxxi before tossing the towel in a corner.

Moxxi walked into her bathroom and saw why Gaige told her that. There were a few patches of makeup missing cause of the lager. She figured she might as well wash what was on her face off and reapply it. She didn't bother using the mirror. She could do it without it.

"So..." Gaige said awkwardly.

"Don't ask," Moxxi quickly said.

"No, I'm concerned about what happened back there. Why did Rhys flip out like that when I mentioned Scooter?" Gaige asked.

"I"m not talking about this sugar. Just let it die,' Moxxi said, using a light and friendly tone to try and convince to drop the subject. It didn't work.

"You talk about him as if he's dead or something," Gaige said, making Moxxi freeze in her movements. Since Moxxi was in the corner in the bathroom, Gaige didn't see the look of despair on Moxxi's face as her eyes were tightly closed. But Gaige was able to take her silence for confirmation.

"Oh my God... are you serious?" Gaige asked, her mouth agape and her eyes wide as saucers.

"Ask your Hyperion friend," Moxxi suddenly spat viciously. She blamed him for this. She blamed him for making her feel this way. Hell, why not make him responsible for everything bad that's happened? That's what Hyperion did to them.

"Ex-Hyperion," Gaige corrected automatically as she processed Moxxi's statement. It really explained Rhys' behavior when they were at the edge of the city. But her statement was what set Moxxi off.

She stormed out of the bathroom, her makeup half done and her face furious. Normally the woman looked stunned and completely composed. Now she looked like the antagonist of a horror picture.

 _"Why_ do you keep defending him?! WHY?! He's a load of Hyperion scum that sat on that space station with his feet kicked up on that space station while we were down here suffering! What is about him? Are you fucking him or something?! What is it?!" Moxxi screamed at Gaige. The teen backpedaled from Moxxi's fury, never seeing anything like it from the normally composed woman. This situation must've really gotten to her personally. But Gaige stayed calm and stood her ground.

"One, he could've easily killed me a few months ago, but didn't. Two, he is one of the kindest, sincere, and honest people that I have ever known. Three, I know he's a very loyal person as well as hard working. On a planet like this, they're some of the rarest people you can find," Gaige explained. "You'd know that if you gave him a chance. I thought that's what you were trying to do."

"That wasn't my intention. I wanted to get him drunk and ask him some more questions. You know he's hiding something," Moxxi said, gaining some of her composure back.

"Just like you?" Gaige questioned idly. The calm way she stated it had an equal amount of effect as if she had yelled it to the world.

Moxxi bit her lip. She had her there. There were a lot of things she didn't want people to know. And she couldn't even respond with a, "That's different," because even she knew that was the weakest argument ever unless it was actually true.

"How do you expect me to do something I don't want to do?" Moxxi asked.

"I don't expect you two. I'm at least hoping that you'll at least give him a chance. If you do, I guarantee you won't regret it. And I've seen how he acts around you. A gentleman. I can't say you've gotten that from most men while your boobs are hanging out," Gaige said dryly. Like the she just stated the sky was blue.

Again, Gaige was right. She could count on one hand the amount of men who acted like gentleman to her. Hammerlock, who was gay, and Roland, who was dead. And dating someone while she was alive. Believe it or not, that was a quality she found endearing in a man.

"I'll think about it. But don't expect anything. I now want to make it a habit to stay away from him so I don't have to prove I was wrong if I do give him a chance," Moxxi sad.

"Do yourself the favor and don't try to avoid him," Gaige said before heading out of the door. Moxxi sighed before following suit and walking back into the bar.

Gaige had walked out of the bar to go find Rhys. She hoped that Moxxi would come around. This place was like a shark tank for Rhys, so he needed as many friends to help out as possible. Granted, it was hard to beat a master assassin, a Siren, and an accomplished Mecromancer such as herself. But more people were always welcome.

She wouldn't really call her other Vault Hunter friends Rhys' friends. It was unlikely they'd stick their neck out for a man they barely knew.

Rhys rubbed his forehead as he sat on the edge of the city. He looked down at the clouds below him, and wondered what they would feel like if he could actually lay on them. That was impossible though. Unless he somehow became lighter than water. Clouds were nothing more than water vapor.

Rhys was sick of feeling like this. he felt guilty over Scooter's death, and he didn't even do anything to cause the man's death. He didn't sabotage the engine that sent Scooter speeding towards the planet's surface.

Then there was the truth of what happened to his mom. That was a new wound that he had to try and heal from. It felt more like a dream than an event that happened a few minutes ago.

Rhys looked out beyond the clouds and to the land below it. This planet was a violent piece of shit, but it was his birthplace. His home, if you could call it that. And Hyperion took it from him.

Rhys silently said a German swear while clenching his fists tightly.

"I can't... I can't let this go no matter how hard I try," Rhys said aloud to himself. "At every turn, something always has to happen. Just how much more can a man take before he falls apart completely? What more does he have to experience? What does he have to do?"

Rhys suddenly stood up without conscious thought and looked at his hands. The same hands that broke a man's neck. The same hands that longed to reach out for his family again. But it was along gone. Vaughn. Yvette. Sasha. Fiona. All of them. Gone out of his life. Forever.

 _"Your mother loves you Rhys. And this entire planet could go to Hell before I'd let you go."_

He could recognize the somewhat familiar voice in his head. He never knew her, but he knew it was her. His mother. What little he had of her in flashbacks. That was all had. Memories.

Rhys closed his eyes tightly, held his arms close to his chest, and screw his face up in a type of pain. Now old memories were starting to surface to his brain. Memories that he'd much rather keep down at this point. It was always easier that way. But it only hurt to know his mother from what little memories he had of her. And it was Hyperion's fault.

That was a constant fact that lingered; that Hyperion was responsible for his misery. It all came down to them. The pain in his heart began to fester and rot before it turned into fury. Boiling hot fury.

The fury was white hot; almost blinding. Making coherent thought almost impossible. Now Rhys felt a need to do something. Not sit around here and train. Not invent something. No. He wanted to go out there. He wanted to go out there and fight. Fight to win. Fight to kill.

"I know why you're upset," Gaige said from behind him. Rhys looked towards her out of the corner of his eye before turning back to the seemingly endless wave of land in the Highlands.

"Just needed to clear my head," Rhys said, trying to hide how angry he felt.

"Yeah, I can see why after a moment like that. I didn't know Scooter was dead at the time," Gaige said.

"Obviously. I'm sure you would've been a lot more sensitive about it. Didn't make it any less stressful to hear though," Rhys said.

"I can see that," Gaige said, sitting next to Rhys on the edge. His face seemed to be stressing more than just Scooter's death. Some other emotion that he was trying to hide.

"You look a little too stressed about it," she said. Rhys sighed.

"Just running my mind over the broken and untruthful piece of shit that is my life," Rhys said, popping his knuckles. "I was born on Pandora. Did you know that?"

"Really?" Gaige asked, sounding somewhat surprised.

"Yeah. Was raised for a few years when I was a child. Can't exactly remember how long though. I do remember my mother a little though. She sounded like a kind woman. At least to me," Rhys said, wishing he had a cigarette. It was an old habit of his, but with the stress of all of this, he might go back to it.

"What happened to her? Was she on Helios with you, or..." Gaige trailed off. She hated to think that Rhys' family died while he lived. That would certainly be eating away at her if she was in his situation.

"No. She's been dead for years. She died here on this toxic shithole of a planet," Rhys said before he laughed a laugh that had no humor in it. Just a type of cruel joke that wasn't funny to anyone. "My home. Or at least it was. I don't even know what my home is anymore."

Rhys looked out on the clouds passing him by again before smacking his metal fist hard in the ground next to him. He hit it hard enough for the ground to crack underneath him, making Gaige jump from the sound.

"Hyperion killed her. This whole time, I've been lied to. They told me my mother died from bandits, and they manipulate my urge to want to get rid of them. Turned it into an intense loyalty for Hyperion so I'd play into their corrupt little circle," Rhys said before his voice became one of deadly calm. "Are there any Hyperion bases left?"

"Some, but-"

"Good enough. Time for a little field work practice. Get up. You're going to lead me to those bastards," Rhys said, immediately standing to his feet and helping Gaige to her feet as well.

"Rhys, are you sure you're ready and not just acting on anger?" Gaige asked hesitantly.

"I'm doing both. I've trained a lot, but never done anything to test my skill. I'm sure I'm more than ready. My shooting might suck, but I'm bound to hit something with enough attempts. Let's go. Lead the way please," Rhys repeated.

Gaige eyed Rhys hesitantly. Normally he was so careful. A type to make sure he knew what he was getting into. Now he was hopped on anger and making reckless decisions.

Rhys could hardly wait to move. He wanted to see the lot of them die. Just like Lilith and the others did. Then with an ironic smirk, he realized that he wasn't too much more different from them. He wanted his revenge against Hyperion just like they did. And in that moment, Gaige could understand that this was what he wanted. This is what he needed.

"Alright. Come with me. I know a fairly small base that we can take care of," Gaige said, walking off. Rhys followed her while summoning his Chimera revolver. His grip tightened on it as he followed her and his face darkened to where it was almost visibly black. He was angry now. He knew it would be even worse once he actually go out there. And he hoped like in most situations, that anger would make him more ruthless and bloodthirsty.

"This is for you mom," Rhys thought to himself as a look of cold fury was brought upon his face.

* * *

A/N: Well, we all know what's about to happen when they get out there. A bunch of Hyperions are going to die. We all know this. I wanted to slowly worm my way into the idea of Rhys not getting used to the idea of killing, but rather wanting to do it. Anger will do that. Especially on Pandora. Things might get a little more interesting from this point.


	7. Chapter 7 Apprenticeships and Friendship

Rhys was screwing on a piece of a gun that he was working on as loud music was blaring throughout Scooter's garage. He managed to get a pack of cigarettes from Marcus to help with his stress and his ECHO was playing his music. Needless to say, he was smiling as he was working.

 _Devastation, obliteration_

 _All to the point of exacerbation_

 _There's no explaining my situation now,_  
 _Why does this shit keep happening to me?_

 _I've held on too long just to let it go now,_  
 _Will my inner strength get me through it some how_  
 _Defying the curse that has taken hold_  
 _Never surrender,_  
 _I'll never be overcome!_

"You certainly know how to pick your music," Gaige said as she walked in through the garage. Rhys looked up and grinned at his friend before stopping in his screwing and addressing his friend.

"I like heavy metal. If I wasn't wary of what the town would do to me if I tried it, I'd be singing along," he said, tossing his tool back on a tool chest and walking up to her. "Anyway, what do you need?"

"I just came off a job. And I've got some jobs that could definitely use your attention if you want more money to start buying stuff like that," Gaige said.

"Alright. Then set up me up coach," Rhys said, cutting of the music on his ECHO that was lying on the side of the room before grabbing his jacket and putting it on. He summoned his Stinger SMG using the inventory feature on his arm and checking his ammo count. Only three hundred and twenty five bullets in the SMG category, a hundred and fifty seven in the pistol department, and about thirty for his snipers. Everything else was empty.

"I hope this job is fast. I don't have much ammo," Rhys said, deactivating the screen and following Gaige to the Fast Travel.

"Don't worry. The location has plenty of crates for you to restock if necessary. It's also a job that you might like pretty well. Mordecai wants what's left of the Wildlife Exploitation Preserve gone. Not only that, but he wants you to set the creatures loose and have them rip apart what's left of the workers. It's his bit of revenge as well... as... yours..."

Gaige ended up trailing off in her sentence. The unconscious grin that rose to Rhys face unnerved her a little. She had never seen an expression like it. She had seen Lilith look happy about Hyperions dying, but... this was different. It looked darker, which was hard to believe. Lilith was known to look sinister with that look on her face, but somehow Rhys looked more like a serial killer that always got personal in his kills. Someone who wanted to make people hurt as much as possible.

"Rhys?" Gaige asked somewhat hesitantly. Rhys' unfocused look was gone in a second and he looked at Gaige with a blank expression.

"Oh. Sorry. I think I blanked out," he said.

"Yeah. You got a sort of grin on your face once I mentioned it. It was kinda unnerving to be honest," Gaige said.

"I was grinning?" Rhys asked.

"Yes. Quite creepily in fact. I've seen a lot of people smile when they've gotten their revenge, but something about the way you look... it... it just doesn't look like it belongs on you," Gaige said. That was easily the best explanation for it. Rhys looked like one to smile and greet his co workers with a smile on his face as he went about his business to do his job. Willing to be perfectly nice to whoever he met as long as they were nice to him.

But that was gone. Once that grin hit his face; that happy, yet slightly sadistic grin hit his face, the idea of that happening ever again was all but gone. Pandora... his training... his experiences... they had changed him. More than anything, she believed it was what he found out about his mother. It had rotted his insides faster than they would've if he hadn't found about that. She would've bet money he wouldn't have turned this bad and this quickly.

"A lot of things don't belong on me. This gun doesn't belong in my hand. It doesn't deserve to be in anyone's hand. The same goes for everyone else who's lost people. Been lied to. Been abused. Been mistreated. Yet it happens. Everyday. So a lot of things that shouldn't happen, happen. And there's nothing I can do to change that. As much as I hate for him to die, the old Rhys has got to go. At least most of him," Rhys said in a resigned voice. He didn't even sound like he was in a struggle. He sounded set. Like it was a fact it had to be done, and he had to go through little to know effort to make it happen. It made her hate what Pandora did to people. Herself included. To think she was just an aspiring young inventor looking to get famous of her work while competing with her rival. Now she was a mercenary.

"You're right. As much as I hate to admit it..."

"This planet changed you too. I doubt you ever dreamed of shooting people in the head for a living, did you?" Rhys asked.

"No," Gaige said, shaking her head.

"This planet turns everyone into murderers. There's no way around it. To think I was once a programmer. Now I'm a small time mercenary trying to survive and make a living on this damnable planet. The way things change, huh?" Rhys said before drawing up the hood on his jacket and walking away.

He had changed his appearance since a few weeks ago. Instead of wearing his suit most of the time, he gotten different clothes off the ECHOnet. He wore a leather jacket with a black T-shirt and black camo pants. He was wearing skag hide boots, which were surprisingly different from his skag skin shoes. Skag hide was considerably rougher on the outside and not as comfortable on the inside, but they were guaranteed to protect his feet for the most part. Even though he couldn't really feel pain in his feet.

As he walked with his SMG at his side, Rhys couldn't help but notice the stares that immediately hit him as he was walking. He knew they saw he was holding a gun, likely afraid of what he was about to do with it. But as of now, Rhys was too distracted to care. He really wanted to blast some heads. To him, it's sad that he enjoys it. As of now, it's something of a guilty pleasure. But soon he'll just be like everyone else and be indifferent about it.

"Where are you heading?" a Lanceman asked, stepping in front of Rhys and stopping him in his tracks.

"Out," Rhys said simply.

"Out where?" the man asked.

"To do something," Rhys said. At that point, Rhys attempted to move past him, but the man grabbed his arm. He had artificial sensors in his arm to be able to feel things, but they would never hurt. Rhys didn't want to wrench his arm away from the man cause he might accidentally come off as hostile, but he did not appreciate being manhandled like this.

"Watch your tone, Hyperion. You forget who really runs things around here," the Lanceman growled underneath his breath so it wouldn't be easily heard. Rhys looked at the man, who's face was hidden underneath the helmet.

"EX-Hyperion," Rhys ground out roughly. "I don't give a damn what you think of me, but I am NOT associated with them anymore. Not after what they took from me. So cut the shit."

The Lanceman threw Rhys' hand forward as if trying to push him to the ground. Months ago, that would've in fact knocked him down to the ground. Not this time. In this case, Rhys barely took a step before he steadied himself. Whether the Lanceman knew it or not, Rhys was a lot more physically imposing than before. His build was actually well hidden under his jacket. Not to mention his left hand couldn't feel pain anymore. There were a lot of advantages he had that this man didn't even know about. But Rhys knew that it was smarter to avoid the option of him finding out the hard way.

"You're not a big man cause you're holding that gun. You're just as pathetic as before," the Lanceman spat at him. Rhys ground his teeth, but he just walked past him. It was better to keep his head down so he wouldn't make any commotion. But the smart ass in him was begging for him to retort. He had to bite his tongue to stop himself.

As Rhys walked inside of the area with the Fast Travel, he got stopped by Zer0, who was leaning against a wall with his hand held out as a way to halt him. This was a person he was more than willing to stop for.

"What is it?" Rhys asked as soon as he approached the man.

"I have something else for you," Zer0 said.

"Yeah. Anything," Rhys said immediately. Zer0 summoned a blade from his ECHO. It was made a lot like his own digistruct blade. It was just as bright as the edge on Zer0's own blade except this one was red.

"I gave Gaige the plans for this weapon / Though I wanted to hand it to you / You have earned it," Zer0 said, handing Rhys the blade. Rhys looked at the blade hesitantly before slowly reached out to grasp it. Even though it seemed flimsy, the bottom of the blade supported the rest of the blade really well. There was no overbalancing problems nor was it too heavy on the tip.

Rhys turned to the side and swung it, the movement of the blade being very smooth. He could actually manage this would one hand easier than expected. And he thought it would have a learning curve for a moment.

"This is really cool!" Rhys exclaimed with a smile. He flipped the blade several times in his right hand before putting it in the inventory feature of his ECHO before turning back to Zer0, or rather, his mentor. He was almost tempted to hug the assassin, but he stopped himself at the last minute. He wasn't sure how he'd react to such a gesture.

"Thank you," Rhys said gratefully, lowering himself into a respectful bow with his left hand closed around his metal fist.

"Gratitude is unnecessary / It is like I said before / You have earned it Rhys," Zer0 told him, giving Rhys the same bow. Rhys spun the blade a little bit more in his hand before looking back at the assassin.

"I have no idea how to use this thing. I only know how to flip it," he said while idly turning the blade.

"I predicted as much. Your training will come soon. Do not worry. But as your departure suggests, you have a job to do," Zer0 said. Rhys nodded.

"I do. I'll come back in a minute," he said before going to the Fast Travel and using the coordinates he got from Gaige to travel the Wildlife Exploitation Preserve.

Rhys walked down to the main area, and there were a swarm of stalkers to meet him here. Raising his Stinger, he focused his ears on where his opponents were coming from more than using his eyes to try and look where they were going to appear. Rhys was able to predict where the stalkers were when they were cloaked.

"Thank you Zer0," Rhys said as he managed to make quick work of the stalkers. Granted, he had used over a hundred bullets and he was going to run out of his SMG ammo quickly if he wasn't careful. So he had to make note of that.

Continuing towards the main base that took up a ton of this area, he came across plenty of loaders and engineers alike that were patrolling the area. Then his mother was brought up again in his mind and the sereneness that he had in killing just moments ago had turned into anger. He felt he had more of a _need_ to kill rather than a duty.

With a shout of anger while drawing his Masher as well, Rhys jumped from the rock he was standing from while his angry eyes were focused on the two loaders that were standing on a platform and letting loose with his bullets liberally. Soon after the gunshots went off, they turned slowly only to be met with a hail of bullets that ripped their arms off and pushed their red eyes through their metal bodies.

Rhys quickly had to change his mag in his guns as other loaders and engineers were coming to meet him.

"First the Vault Hunters, and now this asshole?!" one of the engineers yelled. Rhys eyed the engineers coldly before he changed his weapons to his Surkov. Looking down the sights, he blasted the two engineers in their heads quickly. He hadn't done much practicing as far guns, wanting to spend more time working on his prototypes, but his anger was making him more accurate than anything he had ever done in his practicing. He thought he would have to use his ECHO eye to sharpen his aim because he had done adjustments to that for that very same reason, but it seems he didn't need to.

Continuing in the base while taking the ammo from the engineers' corpses, he walked inside the preserve to be met with a fair amount of loaders. But he was nearing the first switch to let the first wave of creatures out. That was what he really wanted to see, so he ended up evading past a lot of the bullets so that he could hit the switch.

 _"Creatures released. Security forces dispatched,"_ the computerized voice that was most likely responsible for maintaining upkeep of the systems in this place.

The stalkers that came out of the cages started disappearing and reappearing almost like they were teleporting before Rhys settled his sights on the engineers that were walking out to handle the stalkers. What they were not expecting was Rhys to be there, who shot one of them in the face before he could even respond to anything.

"What the hell is this all about?!" one of the engineers yelled as he moved to try and get to one of the stalkers. But it pounced on him and impaled him in his face with its tail.

"This is an uprising! One that ends with all of you dead!" Rhys yelled. It was definitely one moment where he felt more like a leader, more like a man of power and action. He had never really gotten that feeling very much. People always judged and ridiculed him. Underestimated him. Never appreciated him. He got none of that from some of the people at Sanctuary and they had done nothing but make him better. Even if he never said it in words, he would appreciate that for the rest of his life.

Rhys didn't have to do much; the stalkers were on such an unrelenting fury that it was unnecessary for him to have to lift a finger. How they even captured these things was beyond him.

Once they were dead, he looted all of the boxes for ammo before continuing forward. For the most part, he ignored all of the creatures. He knew they didn't want to be here, so he found cloaking himself and sneaking past them was a much better option. It seemed all of the Vault Hunters had already been through here, so all of the doors were already open.

The instance he heard Jack's voice over the speakers when he walked inside of the building, Rhys tightened his right fist before his face unconsciously formed into a type of snarl. The last thing he wanted to hear was the sound of Jack's voice. Not what happened eight months ago. He didn't want to relive what he did to him. What he tried to do to everyone all over again.

There was no one around when he walked inside so it was just a simple matter of pulling the switch as soon as he spotted it.

 _"Creatures released. Security forces dispatched,"_ the computerized voice said again.

The skags looked to Rhys once they were released from their cages, making Rhys look at them hesitantly, but they seemed to recognize him as their savior because they howled to the skies while lowering themselves into a type of bow. Rhys smiled before facing the Handlers that were now flooding the area. This was going to be a slaughter. And Rhys couldn't wait.

Focusing his attention to the first Handler that he saw, he decided to put his guns away and draw the new blade Zer0 gave him. He ran up to the first Handler who raised his gun to fire at him, but Rhys decided to be on some Neo shit because as he jumped up, he adjusted his body to where all of the Handler's bullets missed him before he sliced him across his neck.

Rhys landed behind him and noticed that his body was still upright, so he followed up by backpedaling the sword into the Handler's back with a back kick to push him off the blade. But the moment he did, his head came off and landed on the ground with a clunk because his head was still inside of it. Rhys thought the first slice missed which was why he followed it up with a backstab, but he didn't expect his cut to be that fast as well as precise. It looked like a perfectly even cut. Even though he was upside down and in the air.

"I must be getting better," Rhys said with some satisfaction in his tone.

But that quickly disappeared when a shot hit Rhys' shield and caused him to immediately turn towards the culprit of the trigger. Another one of the Handlers was letting loose on him with a Hyperion SMG, which Rhys made angry again.

Drawing his Masher along with his sword, he raised his Masher and fired twice to kill him. Another Handler had came out of the door that was next to him, but he was immediately pounced on by one of the skags and the man was screaming as the skags tore into his throat with their powerful teeth and jaws even through the armor. After the skag let out a loud gulp, Rhys couldn't help but let out a satisfied laugh. It was sort of similar to a laugh he made when he saw something awesomely funny, but this was a far darker circumstance than anything he's ever experienced.

"Are you enjoying being the main course, assholes?!" Rhys yelled as he turned to other Handlers. But at this point, every skag he set free was going ham. Ripping, tearing, clawing, and chewing their way through armor and to their throats, stomachs, faces, and other body parts at a time. One of the skags had even bitten into one guy's crotch, which even made Rhys cringe a little through his bloodthirstiness.

Once all was said and done, all the skags let out a triumphant howl before heading out of the exit. Rhys didn't know how they were going to get out from here, but hey. Skags seemed to be a lot smarter than they looked. They'd probably figure it out.

Now Rhys was getting bored. Because the Vault Hunters had wiped out most of the loaders here, there was almost nothing to fight on his way to the next cage. He never thought he'd ever be disappointed whenever something was too easy. Normally he loved it when things were like that, but not this time. It bored him.

"God, I must be hanging around Zer0 too much," Rhys said, recalling the assassin's stories where he hated how many of his assassinations were not much of a challenge or the target begged for their life rather than fighting back. He always spoke in a disappointed tone, which showed how good the assassin had become at this line of work when he only takes jobs that he deems remotely challenging. It was only until now why Rhys realized that.

 _"Creatures released. Security forces dispatched,"_ the computerized voice said. On Rhys' ECHO, this was the last one he had to hit before he was done. But he was smiling as he held his freshly gory and bloody blade with his Masher that was half empty. As he stood here, Rhys had never felt more of a badass in his life. He half wanted someone to take a picture of him.

 _"Ok, now you're just getting big-headed Rhys,"_ he thought to himself before the Handlers walked out. And these ones had only melee other than the lasers on their backs. Rhys smiled before making his Masher disappear. This was going to be fun.

Rhys ran up to an Handler and it startled him as to how slow he seemed to move. Rhys easily ducked under his fists before flipping forward and kicking his helmet from off him with a front flip kick. Apparently, he wanted to show off as well. Eh, there's nothing really wrong with that.

Rhys severed the man's right arm when it came into a punch towards his face, and it fell to the ground with a clutter. The Handler screamed from the pain of it before Rhys precisely stabbed him in his open mouth with his sword that came out of the back of his head.

"Don't choke on it," Rhys said before removing his sword out of the Handler's mouth. He could hear gurgling coming from his mouth before his one good hand moved up to try to touch his mouth, but he fell to his knees and to the side before he could fully make it.

The Badass Stalker was going ham in its own right as well. Nothing the Handlers did could even penetrate its natural shield. Rhys sliced his sword towards a man's neck and removed his head as the slice came in a full ninety degree angle that made Rhys' sword hit the wall and penetrate it a few inches. Yeah, after this, he could proudly call himself Zer0's apprentice. He was somewhat good at the things Zer0 himself could do expertly. Stealth, swordsmanship, and combat skills. Even though he was a novice, these plain Hyperion idiots didn't have a prayer.

Rhys was the one to kill the last engineer with a slice to his throat before leaving him there to choke on his own blood. The badass stalker seemed to acknowledge that this was his way of making the man suffer, so he left him alone to suffer before going about its business. Rhys lowered himself to crouch level while impaling his sword in the ground next to him while looking at the man choking on his own blood.

"Having fun suffering?" he said with a sarcastic smile. "Of course you aren't. I'm glad for that. You're getting exactly what you deserve, you know?" Rhys laughed shortly and hollowly before facing the man again.

"You know, I used to believe in you all so much. I believed you were doing the right thing. Making Pandora great again and liberating it from the dangerous bandits and creatures. But I knew you couldn't do that when you couldn't even treat the people in your own company with the same dignity and self respect that a rightful human being would have. Almost no Hyperion I've met was like that," Rhys said, anger seeping into his tone as he talked. He felt the anger rise in him a lot faster than any time in his life, and that was likely due to him being exposed to such a toxic environment. One that hurt him and the people of this planet. He knew he had to put a cap on that anger and resentment eventually, but today was not the day.

"Bleed here and die," Rhys said coldly before standing up and grabbing his sword before walking away.

* * *

Rhys refused to put his sword up, nor did he wipe the gore off of it when he walked back to Sanctuary. He felt a satisfaction in his bones as he wiped the small bead of sweat that was on his forehead as he got back. The most challenging thing that he got was some sort of giant ass Rakk that could somehow breath fire. But he got a cool looking gold sniper out of it made by Jakobs, so he was not complaining at all.

Rhys purposely let the sword drag the ground at his side as he was walking. Not only was the sword covered in blood, but there was a little on his face as well as his shirt and jacket. But he found himself too excited to really care.

 _"Alright, that's done. Now when do I get paid?"_ Rhys wondered to himself as he walked towards the center of the city. Rhys knew Gaige was his best bet as she was the one who set him up for the job in the first place. So she was his source of getting paid. Seemed simple enough. Even with the blood on him and the obvious evidence that he had either been slaughtering or had witnessed one, Mordecai would not have believed that Rhys had slaughtered every Hyperion in the Preserve. So Gaige was definitely his best bet.

But before Rhys could take a step further, a caw rang out and when Rhys looked up to spot the source of the cry, he saw that Talon had taken to the skies before going down towards Rhys. He landed on Rhys' shoulder and let out a soft cry before nuzzling his head against the side of Rhys' head.

"Talon!" Mordecai yelled from the top of the building. Rhys walked around so that he could face the man, who eyed Rhys resentfully as he saw _his_ pet on the former Hyperion's shoulder. He had to force himself to add the word 'former.' "What the hell are you doing?"

"He came to me. I did not call him," Rhys said as he ran one of his metal fingers down the side of Talon's face. Something about the bird liked the feeling of the cold metal running softly down his side, and he crooned softly. Rhys smiled as he had the bird on his shoulder. Something about having the bird on his shoulder was extremely natural. It was also a plus that Mordecai's own bird liked him better.

"Well, send him back up here!" Mordecai exclaimed.

"I don't think I could even if I wanted to. He's got his claws settled in my shoulder pretty good," Rhys said.

"I don't think that... What is that in your hand?" Mordecai asked. Rhys lifted the bloody sword in his hand before giving Mordecai a grin.

"An instrument of death, so to speak. As of now it's responsible for a good amount of deaths so far. Even though I just got it like twenty minutes ago," Rhys said as he turned over the blade in his hand. Mordecai didn't know what he was thinking, but he was thinking he saw a glimpse of Zer0 in the man. Then he quickly realized that the blade in his hand was just like Zer0's, except it was bright red. And then his eyes widened a slight amount from how much blood was caked on it. Spatters of different extremities and velocities, which really changed the way the blood it looked and where it was spread. This sword had been through a bloodbath. The question was, whose blood?

He couldn't get away with that around here. Too many people who would attract too much attention. Someone would've heard the screams and blown his cover. It couldn't have been that.

 _"Or could it? Remember, he's smarter than he looks. He could've killed any one of our men subtly and then staged it to look like he had done a slaughter somewhere else. That sounds more of his style,"_ Mordecai thought as he looked down at the Hyperion. Whether Mordecai knew he was doing it or not, his look was turning more and more resentful as the seconds passed. But Rhys definitely noticed. And he definitely did not like the looks of it, so he decided to move on past Mordecai's line of sight and try to find Gaige.

A Lanceman bumped into Rhys' shoulder purposely hard and Talon jumped up a fair bit before screeching loudly and angrily at the man. As Talon was about to take off to tear some strips of his flesh off for doing that to him and his master, Rhys stopped him before he started something.

"It's alright boy. Don't worry about him," he said serenely. His words managed to calm the bird down as he settled on his shoulder before Rhys continued walking. For reasons Rhys couldn't understand, this bird really liked him. It listened to him and was like a silent companion on his shoulder. To be honest, he'd be willing to buy Talon off Mordecai once he had the money. He didn't care if he cost thousands, which was probably the amount Mordecai was going to ask if he sold Talon to him at all. It was alright.

"I'm assuming by the bloody sword you have, you finished the job," Gaige said, eyeing the blade that was dragging the ground at his side. It looked a lot like Zer0's sword, except it was red. Did Rhys make that without her knowing? They did a lot of inventions together.

"You would be correct in that assumption. I tell you what, those skags went crazy on the engineers. It was actually fun to see," Rhys said with a look that showed that he was somewhat surprised to find something like that fun, but he didn't feel bad about it.

"I bet. Anyway, I'm not sure if Mordecai'll believe you if you tell him that you completed the Wildlife job, so I'll say that I did it and fork the cash over to you," Gaige said.

"Appreciate it," Rhys said, with a short, but respectful bow in her direction. Gaige couldn't help but smile at much more composed the man seemed once he spent a few months with Zer0. Definitely more confident as well.

"Two questions though. Number one, what's with the sword? I didn't know you made that," she said, pointing at the weapon in question. Rhys smiled as he put a hand over his mouth to hide it and was looking down at the ground. There was a feeling of joy in his bones when he thought about it.

"You're right. I didn't make this. Surprisingly, Zer0 made this for me. I don't know how and when, but... it's really awesome, ya know? I mean, I feel like I'm actually his apprentice. To be honest, that's one of the coolest things ever. I'm not an expert with the thing, but he said he'll show me the ropes on sword combat as well," Rhys said as he raised the bloody blade near his face and examined it with an awed look like he had when he first got the sword.

Gaige noted the intense look of happiness on Rhys' face, and saw that he was really excited about this. The man likely looked up to Zer0 as an excellent warrior and a wise mentor. Whether Zer0 said it or not, she had a feeling that he was feeling proud about what he did to Rhys. About how he helped him become a fighter. Once Rhys is done training with Zer0, she had no doubt in her mind the two were going to be inseparable on jobs. Not only that, probably a deadlier pair than any of them could be. Then Rhys would be introducing more tech into his combat, which he told her a few months back. And the tech he was going to make would likely beyond anything Gaige could make. Brilliant mind and brilliant combat skills. On Pandora, that's quite the advantage.

"You two are you going to be unstoppable together," Gaige said with confidence in her voice. Rhys looked at Gaige with a happy look that was hesitant and unsure.

"You sure about that? I mean, I don't know if he'll just go his separate ways after he's finished training me, but... I really do like the sound of making a partner out of Zer0. The Master and the Apprentice," he said with a smile while twirling his sword. The thought of raiding bandit camps with the assassin was something of a dream a few months ago. Now it was actually possible.

"I believe he'll keep ahold of you. Trust me, it's definitely good to keep ahold of someone like you. You're definitely one of the most trustworthy people I know," Gaige said confidently. Rhys walked up to her and gave her a tight hug.

"Thank you. For everything," he said. Gaige awkwardly raised her hands to Rhys' back, not expecting the hug, but appreciated the gesture nonetheless. But she was surprised as to how warm he felt. It was like hugging a blanket, except he wasn't wearing anything that would garner that much warmth.

"You're welcome," Gaige said, pulling away from the hug. "Now for my second question."

"Anything," Rhys said without hesitancy.

"What's with Talon on your shoulder?" Gaige asked, pointing towards the bird in question. Talon gave her a mild caw in her direction, but it definitely wasn't ill willed. Just defensive.

"Cause for whatever reason, he likes me more than he does Mordecai. At least, that's what it seems like from his behavior. He flew towards me and landed on my shoulder as soon as I came back from the job at the Preserve. But I like him. He's a fun little companion," Rhys said, stroking Talon with his metal finger. Talon crooned in happiness before nuzzling against the side of Rhys' head. Around just about everyone else, Talon was vicious. But when he was on Rhys' shoulder, he looked like the cutest and most pleasant bird on earth.

"How in the world do you do it? Talon doesn't act like that with _anyone_ around here. Not even Mordecai," Gaige said, making Rhys shrug.

"I don't know myself. I mean... I guess he just naturally likes me. But it'd be nice to have a companion on those days where you've got no one talk to. It's like having a silent friend. You can't really understand each other, but you find friendship even through the silence," Rhys said as he looked at the bird on his shoulder who was still nuzzling the side of Rhys' head. Gaige smiled at the sight.

"I can see what you mean. Anyway, if you wanna work on some stuff in Scooter's garage until I get back, that's all on you. I'll see if I can find you some more stuff in the future," Gaige said.

"Thanks for the help. I mean it," Rhys said sincerely.

"I know you do. And it's no problem," Gaige said, giving him a mock bow before walking out of the door. Rhys gave out a short laugh before walking towards the garage.

* * *

A/N: You can definitely see I'm going for a master and apprentice angle with Rhys and Zer0 while starting a friend master and pet relationship with Rhys and Talon. I don't know why I started going with the Talon angle, but I find that I like it. That Rhys can find someone that likes him straight out. Doesn't judge him. Doesn't harass him in any way. He's just caring and kind to him. Soon I might have Rhys doing jobs together with Rhys and Zer0 or Talon. Maybe both at the same time.


	8. Chapter 8 - On The Edge

A/N: Now things are starting to get a little close to where I want them to. Soon I'll be able to push it, but I have to build a few things beforehand. Also, I was very tempted to implement Rhys with a rocket arm like Snake in MGS V, but I restrained myself. It sounds absolutely silly to have. Doesn't mean I don't like the idea though.

But on another note, I'm going to have a lot of shit going on recently. I have semester exams, graduation soon, and then I'm coming into a job. And when I'm at home, I get distracted by everything, and it stops me from updating. I'll just see how it all goes.

* * *

Rhys looked out at Pandora below him as he was sitting on the edge of the city, taking a break from his designs for a moment. He had a lot of designs that didn't involve his arm, but there were plenty that did. He already got an electric function for his arm as well as the magnetic lock fingers, but he had to finish the cloaking device and built in shield. On that last one, he took a page out of Athena's book. Wouldn't hurt to have a backup shield in case his regular shield went down. It hadn't yet, but he definitely was not going to take a risk on that.

 _"This arm is going to be my version of a Swiss Army Knife,"_ he thought with a smile as he looked at his metal hand. He clenched it and unclenched like he did when he was first testing it out. The arm didn't feel heavier even though he installed these two new features, but the shield function might add some weight. It was alright though. He'd adjust to it. Plus that would only mean the punches would hurt a lot more when he threw one.

"What are you doing?" Moxxi asked from behind him. If Rhys didn't have steady nerves, he would've jumped and drawn his Chimera. But he felt considerably relaxed, so he was just able to calmly turn towards her before turning back towards the never ending landscape of Pandora.

"Taking a break. Never thought you'd willing approach me," Rhys said evenly as he continued to look out onto the landscape.

"You'll find that I'm full of surprises Hyperion," Moxxi said.

"It's Rhys," he immediately corrected, frustration seeping into his tone. She knew he was getting tired of people calling him that. He had to have been getting tired of it. But then again, it made it a little more amusing for. But she decided have a little mercy, which was a little uncharacteristic of her.

"Rhys," Moxxi said in a tone as if she was self correcting herself. His slightly sullen and pondering look was replaced by a small smile. "All I did was call you by your name."

"Yes. By a person who would normally recognize me as 'Hyperion.' So it's a victory in my book," Rhys said, the small smile still on his face. In all of life, she never thought she'd find a person who'd be happy just from her calling their name. Though it was under somewhat understandable circumstances.

"If you say so," Moxxi said, noticing he was clenching and unclenching his metal hands. "Problems with your arm?"

"No, just kind of... I can't really explain it. It doesn't weigh more than it did before I added these new upgrades, but it feels different somehow," Rhys said, flexing his metal fingers.

"That's because it is different. It's all in your head," Moxxi told him, crossing her arms.

"Probably. Still. I can't help but feel different. It's got a different weight on it. What was once a replacement for my old arm is now a tool for killing and mercenary work," Rhys said before giving off a small, yet hollow chuckle. "The way things end up, huh?"

"Yeah, like the fact that you're even here in the first place," Moxxi said with a somewhat hostile tone. But Rhys was not surprised, so he smiled anyway, which surprised Moxxi.

"Yeah, I suppose that's true as well. Not often you catch an ex-Hyperion in Sanctuary that's alive. Well, 'often' isn't the most suitable word for this. More like..."

"Not bleeding?" Moxxi suggested rhetorically.

"That's two words, but it works wonders," Rhys said with a cheeky grin. Moxxi almost wanted to smack him for the comment, but it took her a moment to realize that the comment wasn't disrespectful or degrading like she was expecting. It was... genuinely in good fun.

"Oh, you're a little smart ass, aren't you?" Moxxi questioned.

"I don't know how an ass can be smart, but..." This time Moxxi really did walk up to him and smack him in the back of his head, making him laugh. He was enjoying this way too much for her tastes. "Ok, ok. I'm done."

"You're even more insufferable than Axton after a few drinks," she snapped at him.

"I haven't met him, so I wouldn't know. I'm just going to assume he's passed out after a few drinks, which really wouldn't put a cap on how insufferable I am," Rhys said in a tone of logic. She hated him for being so smart. "Loopholes are a wonderful thing."

"You should've been a lawyer. Would've been even more of a slippery snake than you were on the space station," Moxxi jabbed at him. Though she had her own reasons to doing this. Just to kind of probe the inside of his head a little bit more. Rhys tapped his fingers impatiently on the ground to try and hide his irritation, but he maintained composure.

"Being a slippery snake is how you survive. If you aren't, you either die or are pushed to the bottom of the food chain. At that point, there's not much of a difference," Rhys told her. Moxxi frowned. He sounded like being a treacherous piece of shit was the only way to live. Further proof of a rotten company.

"And you suppose betraying everyone you care about is any better?" Moxxi asked, making Rhys turn around face her for the first time since they've been talking.

"I NEVER turn my back on my friends. Never forget that," he said in a firm tone. "People on Helios will tell you all time. Never have friends. There are only allies and acquaintances. Not for me. That's no way to live."

The way he talked reminded Moxxi of a type of hippy. Someone who doesn't do things that are traditional in their society and talk about how much better things are cause they're doing it. And if what he said was true...

"I know, I know. You're probably think I'm lying out of my ass to make me look better," Rhys said in an almost bored tone. That was exactly what Moxxi was thinking, but granted, it wasn't that hard to figure out. "But hell, you're not going to believe me no matter what I say, so what are you going to do?"

The tired and absolutely exhausted tone afterward he used even made Moxxi cringe inwardly. He sounded absolutely done. Like he had been fighting that battle for years. Maybe it was just a early realization that no one but Gaige and Zer0 was going to tolerate him, much less respect him.

"Gaige seems to think rather highly of you," Moxxi said idly.

"Yeah, that's cause she knows me. The rest of you don't even care about me enough to get to know me first. Like what is even the point man?" Rhys said, frustration in his voice. But it was mixed with a type of sadness. It sounded pitiful.

"You don't have to get along to work together. All you have to do is tolerate each other," Moxxi reminded him. Rhys sighed deeply. "You must like having everyone not hate you."

"You're right about that. Plus I'm afraid that things will only get worse the longer I stay here. I expect something treacherous," Rhys before thinking, _"Even more than the soldiers beating the crap out of me when they feel like they need a punching bag."_

"And you'd know all about that, huh?" Moxxi questioned rhetorically.

"You know what? Fuck you," Rhys growled. "I'm tired of you taking jabs at me." Moxxi had to raise an eyebrow at how quickly he changed emotions on her. That last jab she took must've broken his back.

"I was wondering when you'd get tired of that. Bout time you said something," she said evenly. The look of anger almost immediately changed into a look of disbelief.

"Wait you were..."

"Deliberately antagonizing you? Yes I was. I was wondering if you would just keep allowing it, but you don't. At least I know you're not going to let people roll all over you," Moxxi said, idly checking a nail as if this was no big deal. Rhys let out a puff of breath before leaning back with his feet still dangling on the edge and looking up in the sky. Moxxi was tempted to walk away right now, but she, well, she didn't necessarily promise her, but she said she might give him a chance. And as of now, he seemed uninterested in anything right now.

"You gonna take a seat, or are you afraid you'll catch 'Hyperion germs' or some bullshit like that?" Rhys asked without taking his eyes off the sky.

"One second. I'm sure I can find a sickness mask somewhere," Moxxi said somewhat dryly, making Rhys snicker. "Why is that funny? It wasn't a joke."

"Yeah, sure it wasn't. And my arm isn't made of altered titanium," Rhys said in the same dry tone that she used, making Moxxi shake her head.

"Oh, so you have jokes, huh?" she asked.

"Plenty. Whether they're good or not depends on the person, but those go for all jokes," Rhys said before gesturing next to him. "So, seat or no seat? Pick your poison." Moxxi hesitated. Tilting her head at the man, he seemed virtually unaffected by whether she sat or not. But instead of sitting close to the edge, she decided on sitting a few meters back.

"I'm not getting near that edge," Moxxi said as she sat down.

"I'll catch you. I've been on this edge a lot these past few months. It doesn't really scare me anymore," Rhys said, idly waving a hand in the air.

"I'll take my chances staying back here," Moxxi told him.

"Suit yourself Miss Moxxi," Rhys said coolly. She didn't know what it was, but him saying that sent a weird sensation down the back of her neck. What was that? A flattered sensation?

"What is with you calling me that?" Moxxi asked.

"Calling you what? By your name? Um, it is your name isn't it?" Rhys questioned, glancing at her.

"It is, but what's with the 'Miss' part? Are you automatically assuming that I'm not married?" Moxxi questioned, sounding somewhat irritated. Then Rhys did something completely unexpected. He burst out laughing. He legitimately started bursting out laughing like what she said was the funniest thing on this planet. Moxxi immediately stopped and looked at him like he had gone insane.

"That is so hilarious. I've discovered that nowdays, you'll find the slightest thing to be mad at me about. That's... that's really funny to me," Rhys said while covering his mouth to hide his laughter. Moxxi didn't understand why it was so funny to him. Then she half understood. Maybe it was his way of keeping from getting angry. Laughter as an alternative to anger. She had to admit, it was definitely the best option as far as this place was concerned. But at the same time, it felt... wrong.

"So you're laughing to stop yourself from getting angry," Moxxi said in a definite tone.

"Basically. Angry does not look good on me. Laughing is so much better," Rhys said before sitting up, doing a flip, and jumping off the edge while grabbing the edge last minute. Though that is not what it looked like to Moxxi.

"What the hell?" she questioned aloud before standing up and approaching the edge cautiously. Then, she could see that Rhys was hanging on with one hand like it wasn't a big deal. He was even looking at a map and everything!

"I thought you really jumped," Moxxi asked.

"I thought you would've been happy if I did. But I'm not going to give any of you the satisfaction," Rhys said idly as he pulled himself up to where he was able to get height above Moxxi, jump over her, and land safely.

"With the way you act, I would've been," Moxxi said moodily.

"My point exactly. Thanks for the conversation. Now I half don't know if you hate me or want to generally like me," Rhys said, forcing his metal hand on his knuckles to crack them. It was so loud, it sounded painful.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Moxxi asked.

"Again, what do you care?" Rhys asked, sounding somewhat bitter. His tone changed at the blink of an eye. So quick, you barely had time to process his take on the situation.

"You're just going to keep throwing that at me, huh?" Moxxi asked.

"Just as long as your friends keep treating me like a skinned skag," Rhys said, shaking his hand as if he just washed it.

"That's..." Moxxi immediately cut herself off from what she was about to say, but Rhys already caught on.

"Being selective? Heh. That's funny," he said.

"Ok, I admit. We haven't necessarily been the kindest of people, which is an understatement of course, but you have to understand. We hate Hyperion down here," Moxxi said.

"And I hate them too. Or have I supposedly not made that clear enough when I beat that target dummy to death? Or killed an entire Hyperion camp? Seriously, you don't believe me? Ask Gaige. She's the one that set me up for the job. And there should be enough Hyperion corpses there to prove my point if the skags haven't already devoured them already. There's just so much you don't realize until it's been brought to life. And I've discovered that this company has taken more from me than they've given me. What hasn't been enough?! My mother?! My friends?! My sanity?! My fucking arm and eye?! What is enough? Tell me, since you're the higher ones! Tell me! What's enough?!" Rhys screamed in Moxxi's face, looking wild and crazy. And this time, it looked like he was legitimately losing control. His hands were wildly swinging all over the place as he was yelling, and Moxxi couldn't resist taking a step back. He looked ready to kill anyone and anything.

"I don't have an answer for you," Moxxi said evenly. Rhys fell back onto his back as if someone pushed him and he weighed less than a hair. He didn't seem hurt by the fall, but he did look like he was going crazy from the inside out. Or reminded of some stuff he didn't want to be reminded of. It reminded her of Handsome Jack when he had occasional episodes. Though he was nowhere this serene after. She didn't know what to make of this man.

"I'm sorry about that. I'm just... I'm frustrated," Rhys said, rubbing his forehead.

"Sexually?" Moxxi said with a raised eyebrow, making Rhys turn bright red. He didn't dare open his mouth on that matter.

"That's not what I meant," Rhys said.

"But you didn't deny it," Moxxi said, her eyebrow still raised. This was her way of messing with everyone she deemed even the slightest bit hesitant in the ways of women in general, and Rhys seemed like the very person for this very situation. It was one way she had fun.

"Just how much are you going to mess with me?" Rhys asked.

"Until you learn to lighten up. I'm actually messing with you playfully. I do this with everyone," Moxxi said.

"Seriously?" Rhys asked.

"You're making it real hard to try to get to know you, you know that? I half don't want to know you in the first place, but..."

"I see your point. I'll try to calm down. Let's avoid the foreplay... Don't take that out of context," Rhys said pointing at Moxxi as she was about to open her mouth with a smirk on her face. "How about we just be blunt?"

"It's always easier over a few drinks. I suppose we could try that way," Moxxi suggested. Rhys rose to his feet and held his hand out towards Moxxi. Moxxi grasped it, but before she shook it, she was startled by how rough his hand felt. The innuendo spoke for itself on that one, but a closer look told her that his hand was extremely calloused. It felt like a patchy rock.

"Ever heard of lotion?" Moxxi asked after releasing his hand.

"I thought we were done with the sex jokes?" Rhys questioned. Moxxi smirked.

"Now who's making the sex jokes? No, I was talking about your hand. It feels so calloused," she said.

"It's been through quite a bit. I suppose it could use a little help. But it's fine for now," Rhys said, moving his neck from side to side. "So... drinks?"

"Might as well," Moxxi said, walking towards her bar. She shook her head. She was sitting a Hyperion down for drinks so they could get to know each other better. What was the world coming to.

* * *

A/N: This was just an idle chapter I made. I'm working something out with Rhys and Moxxi. Cause in a way, they're not that different, thought their circumstances are different. I'll build on it a little more, but I have my reasons for it. Until next time.


	9. Chapter 9 - Done

"Doing alright?" Gaige asked.

"Been better," Rhys said, taking a small sip from the alcohol bottle in his hand. "This bruise is irritating me though."

"This is why you don't train too hard. Put some ice on that thing. It'll go down," Gaige said.

"You look like you had a rough day sugar," Moxxi said, walking up next to Rhys and putting a hand on the side of his face and tracing her thumb on the bruise.

"Bastard clocked me good with no shield," he said. Moxxi stuck a thumb in Rhys' lager before rubbing it on on the bruise. Rhys winced slightly before keeping still as she rubbed the alcohol deep into the wound.

"This is an extremely crude way to get a bruise to go down, but it works," Moxxi said.

"I suppose it would," Rhys said as he could surprisingly already feel the pain upon contact start to go down. Rhys deliberately kept his eyes averted to avoid starting directly into her breasts. He felt extremely awkward as he forced himself to look directly at one spot and not move his eyesight in any direction so he would end up looking towards the 'wrong' direction. Gaige could see the look on Rhys' face and was about to ask him why he was looking like that, but then she could see that if he turned to the left on less than a ninety degree angle, he'd be staring directly into her boobs. Gaige smirked before idly taking a sip from her lager.

"There ya go. Not much more you can do from there unless you wanna waste a hypo," Moxxi said, standing up straight.

"Thanks. It'll go down soon enough," Rhys said with a small smile before turning back to his drink.

"Well, don't you look more like a hardened Pandoran?" Gaige said with a smile as she looked at Rhys' face, he looked at her curiously.

"It's just a bruise. I'm sure people's children have more scars than that," he said idly.

"Well, that might be true, but that's not the point. You didn't see the scars?" Gaige asked.

"Scars?" Rhys asked before tracing his hand across his face. At one point, he felt a really rugged part of his face with other parts feeling similar to it. The scars felt strange under his touch. He didn't realize he even had these.

"You didn't notice those?" Gaige asked as even Moxxi looked at the scars on Rhys' face in an interested fashion. She had noticed them herself, but she paid them no mind. They looked fully healed, and they didn't seem to bother him at all. Apparently, there was a reason for that.

"No, I really didn't. _Fucking Raiders."_ Rhys thought the last part frustratingly before focusing his attention on Gaige again, who looked amazed.

"Wow. Your face must have an endurance for pain," she said.

"It's capable of more things than just looking good," Rhys said dryly. If he had said it cheekily, both Moxxi and Gaige would've rolled their eyes. But his dry tone just made it funny.

"So you're trading looks for badassery?" Gaige questioned.

"I'd say it's a fair trade. Though a little bit of both wouldn't hurt," Moxxi said, looking at Rhys with her thumb and index finger under her chin before a finger tapped her shoulder and the source was a Raider with one of his buddies.

"Can we get a drink?" the man asked. Rather than give off her traditional smile and "coming right up," Moxxi found herself somewhat annoyed from them interrupting her conversation.

"Sure," Moxxi said somewhat blandly before moving to the counter. One of the Raiders turned towards Rhys, who he figured looked too relaxed from just having his ass beat just a few moments ago. The sight made the Raider frown before he hit Rhys particularly hard on his shoulder, though it looked like a friendly tap on the shoulder that guys tend to do to the outside eye.

"Having fun?" he asked as if he really cared.

"Somewhat. Don't you have a drink you're trying to get?" Rhys asked.

"You sound as if you don't want us here," the Raider said.

"I don't," Rhys said simply. Gaige looked towards the Raiders and frowned slightly.

"Move along," she said. The Raiders eyed Rhys for a few more seconds before walking towards the bar. Rhys took another sip from his lager and set it down gentler than was really necessary. He knew that if he tried to do it any harder, he'd slam it down hard and shatter the whole thing.

"You seem tense," Gaige said.

"Because the arrival of people who despise me doesn't make me tense at all," Rhys said moodily. Gaige sighed. She knew his mood was officially soured from those guys. Bunch of assholes. So Gaige stood to her feet and gestured for him to follow her.

"Come on. Atmosphere is no good here anymore," she said. Rhys took one last sip before following Gaige out of the door. Moxxi watched the two as they walked out, and frowned. She heard exactly what they said, and she was not happy for these Raiders driving out her only sources of conversation in this place. So she served the Raiders unnaturally quick and gave them the not so subtle hint that they could not stay before sending them out. Moxxi put a hand on her forehead as she leaned on the counter, now bored like she was most of the time she sat in this bar.

 _"All it takes is for one person to ruin the whole thing,"_ Moxxi thought as she grabbed a rag from under her counter and decided to wipe the whole thing clean. Might as well, right?

Gaige started to lead Rhys back towards Scooter's garage. Maybe some work would take his mind off things. But then, Gaige was clocked in the head by a rock.

"Ow!" she exclaimed before turning towards the source and saw that it was a citizen who was picking up rocks. "What gives, asshole?"

"Sorry. Was aiming for the Hyperion. Just move and I won't hit you," the man said. Gaige immediately got pissed the fuck off.

"I don't give a damn who you happen to be aiming at. If you throw another rock..." While she was talking, he did exactly that. Though Rhys held out his metal hand and caught the rock immediately, crushing it in his metal hand. Then his eyes lit up with anger. When Gaige saw that look, she knew he had enough now.

"Now it's my turn. If you throw another rock, I'm going to cut your eyeballs out and put rocks in the sockets," Rhys said, slowly walking towards the man like a serial killer. "And then I'm going to force them into your skull with a hammer. _Try me."_ The man's face immediately turned pale before he looked at the rock in his hand and then at the still advancing Rhys. The man ran off, and the urge to go after him was tempting, but he locked his limbs and calmed himself down.

"Were you actually going to do that if he threw another one?" Gaige asked.

"Possibly. At the very least, beat the shit out of him. I don't even care who sees at this point," Rhys said moodily.

"Anger is a great weapon / Yet it can make you careless / Control it," Zer0 said, walking up to them. Rhys gave his mentor a small smile before bowing slightly. That boosted Rhys' mood at a bit, which made Gaige thank Zer0 mentally. But then he gave her one of those gestures that meant he wanted to talk to Rhys alone. She took the hint and nodded before walking away.

"What is it?" Rhys asked.

"I wish to talk to you. About something that happened a few moments ago," Zer0 said.

"Ok," Rhys said, deciding to listen what he had to say before he asked about why this citizen throwing rocks was relevant.

"I must confess myself... curious by your behavior," Zer0 said.

"What do you mean?" Rhys asked.

"Where'd you get that bruise?" Zer0 asked. Rhys sighed. He knew there was no beating around the bush anymore.

"How'd you figure it out?" Rhys asked.

"I decided on making a visit to the garage your reside in to freshen up on your training. I caught enough of what happened to know that this was a common thing, and you told no one. If you told no one, something different would've been done. Explain," Zer0 said.

"You don't know the hole I'm in. You're not a former Hyperion. I am. Which means, my word means nothing around here. You can teach all you want. Give me the fighting skill and strength of a thousand versions of you. But when it comes to a voice, it means less than a bandit around here. If I told you, Gaige, or anyone else, the Siren and her friends would just disregard it as a Hyperion lie. And that would only lead to more problems that I don't want. Pain I can take. More trouble, I can't," Rhys explained in a rant. Zer0 could hear the frustration in his voice was apparent. And it sounded like these Raiders were willing to lie to make his life more miserable if he told anyone.

"From that point, I suppose I can understand your situation a bit more. But it's going to go on no more," Zer0 said firmly.

"And how do you expect to pull that off?" Rhys asked.

"Not me. You," Zer0 said, pointing a slender finger at Rhys. "The next time they visit you, you let loose as some people would say. Make sure they never mess with you again. If they cause problems, well, all of the people that I tell will be there to back you up. The people that I tell will side with you. It may be enough."

"And if it's not?" Rhys questioned.

"Well, you mentioned you know the location of other Atlas bases. That is where all of us will reside. We'll move out of Sanctuary to take a stand. A place where you do not have equal rights and peace of mind is a place you shouldn't be living in in the first place," Zer0 said, but Rhys shook his head.

"I couldn't ask you to do that..." Rhys started, but Zer0 shook his head pathetically. The assassin hardly felt the exasperated.

"Humans. Always overlooking the obvious," Zer0 said as he looked back at Rhys. "You don't have to ask anyone. I will. And they will agree if they choose. You forget. You are not alone in this situation. Remember that. And as your mentor, my duty is to protect you. But as your friend I would say, that I would happily kill anyone who messes with people I call friends. Because that list is short." Rhys couldn't help but smile at the assassin. The neutrality of the man would never stop being apparent, but his words spoke it all.

"Thanks. But there's the possibility of the Siren wanting to burn me into a crisp as soon as she finds out," he said.

"Gather all of your items and wait for the Raiders to return. In case you need to leave quickly, have it all prepared. We will help you," Zer0 told him.

"Alright. But I figure we should think ahead. Old Haven actually has a lot of cleaning up to do," Rhys told him.

"Then I suggest if you don't want to waste money on us cleaning up a town, you should build a machine to help do it for you," Zer0 told him. Rhys sighed. He didn't think that after this, he'd be responsible for cleaning up an old town to its former glory while avoiding to be killed by the very skilled and murderous people of Sanctuary. He was in for some crazy stuff.

"I'll get to work on it then," Rhys said, walking away.

* * *

"He hasn't told us what?!" Gaige said. She had to restrain herself from yelling, but it still came out very loud.

"Do I honestly have to repeat myself, or are you just in disbelief?" Zer0 asked.

"Disbelief," Gaige said, holding out a hand and calming herself down. "I'm sorry. I'm just a bit incensed from finding this out. He better have a good reason for not telling us."

"His reasons are his own. But above all, he does trust us. We have plans. To leave this place if necessary. Rhys knows of an Atlas base of which we can live. Located in Old Haven," Zer0 said.

"How about we take this to everyone else, and if they refuse to get their soldiers in line, we leave?" Gaige asked.

"Because that would give us less time to prepare the town. Plus it would be better if the soldiers know that Rhys is a formidable threat without our aid," Zer0 said, making Gaige shake her head. "You know something I don't?"

"Well, if we let Rhys deal with them himself, it may to lead to a mess we can't clean up," she said.

"What do you mean?" Zer0 asked.

"I may be reading nothing out of this, but earlier there was a citizen that was throwing rocks. He meant to hit Rhys, but hit me instead. But when he threw a second, Rhys caught it and crushed it. Then if you had seen the look on his face, it possibly would've surprised you. He looked angry. And I'm not talk about irritated. Like, full on rage angry. I know he was dealing with these guys for a while, but this was a reaction completely out of the water," Gaige told him.

"Effect of pent of frustration / The simplest things will set him off / Unsurprising," Zer0 said. "But it's exactly what I am counting on."

"So you want him to possibly kill these guys?" Gaige questioned. _The screen transitioned to a sleeping Rhys as Zer0 was stating his response._

"Exactly. If he remembers what I taught him, they are in for a world of pain," he said.

* * *

Rhys was snoring softly as his feet were kicked up. He fell asleep on screwing a particular part of a weapon, but it was the only thing that was out. Everything else was put in the ECHOs he had for containing the stuff. But then a quick punch to the face ensured he wasn't awake anymore. Then he was tossed in the middle of the floor.

"Goddammit," Rhys said as he was picking himself up. But then he was kicked back down from a boot to the ribs.

"The next time they visit you, you let loose as some people would say. Make sure they never mess with you again." Zer0's words rang in his head, but he wasn't sure he could. So many times he bit back the anger and resentment that it was now becoming something easy. Their words were drowned easily by his own thoughts, and the pain half didn't register.

"A place where you do not have equal rights and peace of mind is a place you shouldn't be living in in the first place."

"You're one of the most trustworthy people I know." Then, without even looking up, Rhys lifted his metal hand and gripped whatever was in his hand until he heard a crunch. And then kept gripping it before tossing it pushing the person back.

"I'm done with your bullshit," Rhys said, standing to his feet. Deciding on being the aggressor in this case, Rhys grabbed the first Lanceman by the throat and punched his metal fist through his armor until it hit his ribs hard enough to crack one. His partner with the broken leg attempted to grab Rhys' leg, but he kicked the man's hand off him and throwing his partner in a corner, particularly on his already damaged ribs. Then Rhys drew a revolver and shot him twice in his knees respectively before going back over to the other Lanceman and removing his helmet.

"Look at me. Look at me," Rhys growled, forcing the man to look at his mismatched eyes that were full of anger.

"Shoulda known... a pathetic Hyperion like you..." Rhys backhanded the soldier with all of the force in his human hand, which was enough to knock a tooth out. Then he put his hand on the top of his head before socking him in the face with his metal hand, which was enough to crack his jaw.

"You brought this upon yourself," Rhys said before digging his knees into the man's chest and relentlessly punching him in the face with all of his might. A punch here. An elbow there. Then several rapid and merciless punches to the ribs that the man could feel even through his armor. Then he went back to the face. As Rhys continued, the anger and resentment only grew and grew. And the force of his punches grew along with his anger.

Then he felt hands on his shoulders, but Rhys used their own weight so that he would land on them, making sure his metal elbow connected with the side of the person's face. As he suspected, it was the second Lanceman. Rhys crackled his metal hand full of electricity before removing the man's helmet with his human hand.

"Feel this," Rhys said as he grabbed the man's neck with his electric infused hand, watching the man scream in pain before his grip. Rhys couldn't help it. No matter how much he wanted to fight it, a smile came across his face at seeing him writhe in absolute agony. "And here I was thinking you liked pain. Guess I made a mistake."

Rhys dropped him and the Lanceman crawled about an inch, before he found that it was almost impossible to breathe. But every time he did, it felt like he was trying to swallow an entire skag. The electricity burned his throat badly, and coherent thought was almost impossible. But then he felt his hair being gripped before he felt himself being dragged. He didn't have the energy to struggle as the Hyperion lead him back to the main part of the city.

* * *

A/N: I'm sure you're all very interested to find out what might happen next, but I'm going to tease you in the meantime.


	10. Chapter 10 - Breaking Point

A/N: I'm late af on updating this. Forgive me for that. I binged the fuck on playing MKX and Black Ops 3 with the PS4 I got for my birthday. I'm 18 now people! Which means I get thrown in butt rape jail if I break the law. But I don't have the balls for that, so I should be fine unless I get framed on some racial profiling bullshit. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter! Think I've tortured you all long enough.

* * *

An idle tune was flowing through Rhys' lips casually. The tune was a cheerful one; something to raise spirits or to show good mood. It would normally make sense if the day was going good. But the image took a grisly turn. A Caucasian man; his throat nearly burned to a crisp and his body aching and bones broken. A fistful of his hair in a relentless and unforgiving metal grip. Struggling was not the best option. He'd be more likely to rip his roots out before he got out of the grip. But he knew the Hyperion wouldn't get far. So many Lancemen were around here. He wouldn't get far.

Sure enough, Lancemen came up and drew several weapons. He noticed many of them were weapons Rhys got for them. Others were stubborn and went with their simple pistols, but they knew they had the advantage here.

"Let him go Hyperion!" one the officers yelled.

"Get your bosses. NOW," Rhys said. His tone was absolute; it left no room for argument. But that would be challenged.

"You don't get to make the demands here. Now..." Rhys response was to infuse his hand full of electricity for about two seconds, causing the soldier to scream in pain from the electricity traveling through his body before deactivating it. Rhys was enjoying this far more than he'd care to admit.

"Oh, what now? I can't hear you over the sound of your bastard partner screaming. Bring them in here. Unless you want him to die, in perfectly which case I don't mind cause he's a piece of shit, but if you want to save his sorry carcass... _Bring. Them. Here."_ Rhys' tone was as cold as ice now. The Lancemen knew they had him outgunned and outnumbered easily. But they knew he wouldn't hesitate to use Jameson's body as a human shield for most of the bullets. So Corporal Jessup nodded before walking away. Rhys laid the man's body down and used it as a foot rest while keeping his revolver drawn. But it was hanging idly at the side while he was waiting.

"Ah, pain. It's not as fun when you're not the one doing it, is it?" Rhys said as he looked at the Raider under his feet. His mouth was covering the dirt, so nothing but mumbles came out. "Course not. Unless you're a masochist and a sadist." Rhys walked over to him and raised his head while forcing him to look at Rhys, his eyes flashing with raw anger. "Months. Fucking months I let you toss me around like a piece of garbage. So many times when I could've done this and been done with it. But I didn't. I sat there and took it. I sat there and let you use the base fact that I exist around here to threaten me to be your punching bag. Guess what? I punched back, and it hurts, don't it? I certainly hope it does."

"You want to do this the hard way?" a female voice with barely restrained anger said. He looked up to see the Lanceman came back with the Siren bitch and her two other asshole friends. He refused to call them by name. He had no respect for them at all. Unless they did the right thing here, which he wasn't counting on.

"This isn't really hard at all. We can acknowledge that some of your soldiers are a piece of shit and fix it," Rhys said idly.

"The only piece of shit here is you, pendejo," Mordecai growled.

"Pudrirse en el infierno, borracho patético," Rhys snapped at him, making Mordecai growl from being called a pathetic drunk. But he didn't move. Rhys tapped his revolver on the Lanceman's head to check if he was still conscious. He was. Though there was no telling how much longer he had. His ability to breath sounded like it was getting hard and harder.

"You people claim to be on the right side. You people claim to be fair. Your claims are bullshit. Your claims have yet to be proven by facts. I am the living proof that you people are no better than _Hyperion_ with your little _selective society,"_ Rhys said, the words dripping with venom and disgust as he looked up from the soldier under his feet. The absolute hatred in which he said Hyperion threw some people for a loop, but Lilith, Mordecai, and Brick were looking at him with a look of absolute anger. The feeling was mutual with Rhys. He did not back down with his stare. If anything, his stare was somehow more murderous than Lilith's was. And her stare was deadly enough to make Alpha Skags whimper for their mothers.

"Don't you dare compare us to..." A gunshot rang out and there was a groan of agony. Rhys shot the soldier under his feet in the foot.

"I compare you because it's true. Anyone who didn't fill the norm in Hyperion's place of business was usually dead or had disappeared off the face of the galaxy. You are doing no different. You people do not trust me. I could tell you that bandits found a way to get in here, and you would assume I was bullshitting. Then dozens of citizens and soldiers are killed. Your lack of faith completely boggles my mind after so long of putting up with your shit. Not only did I put up with it, I've been NOTHING but helpful to you all. Even after I deal with the undeserved bullshit beatings your soldiers give me every other night, I've been nothing but helpful while you've all been a bunch of vindictive, bitter assholes who can't get past their own prejudice long enough to realize that I was here to help you!" The snarl that came out of Rhys' mouth was animalistic. His help was constant even after being treated unfairly every day. And now that it was all coming to the surface, the anger was there. And it was ready to consume him.

"You said..." Corporate Jessup spoke up. "...something about our soldiers coming down to beat you. Well, I know for a fact..."

"If you say you haven't been doing that, I have the scars to prove it. You see the ones one my face? The bruise that's there?" Rhys said, his stomach twisting painfully as he continued. "The blade marks on my back? The burns? I've seen the patterns. You can't do that to yourself. They have to be done against you. The used hypos I throw out every time this happens? You're a bunch of creative sons of bitches when you wanna make a Hyperion hurt, don't you? A Hyperion that hasn't done a damn thing to you. And don't use the pathetic excuse that I exist counts. Have I really done anything to you yet since I've been here? Be honest with yourselves if you don't want to be honest with me."

Jessup and a few of the soldiers' shoulder's eased up even if only slightly. Hyperions never played victim. Especially to Pandorans. And judging by the scars on his face, it didn't look like he was lying about this. Some of the scars on his face were healed. Others were still a little red; threatening to bleed if irritated enough. And from how he was talking, there were more on his back.

"I don't blame you in the slightest for what you did," Gaige said as she and Zer0 walked up to the situation at hand. "In fact, I'd break a lot faster than you did."

"Now, I know you've defended this... guy on many cases. Why, I don't know." Lilith spoke with barely restrained anger, as if she was trying to be somewhat civil towards Gaige since she helped saved them and Pandora. "But you're blind as to why..."

"I don't blame him for doing this. He's been taking crap from your Raiders for months now. Even Zer0 didn't know until he discovered it himself. The fact that you are not willing to even let him him explain and take into the smallest consideration that he may be telling the truth is stupid. But I know why. You're mad that Jack killed your boyfriend," Gaige growled at her. The frustrations Gaige had with the woman before Rhys even came along were fueling her argument.

Mordecai and Brick looked at Lilith expectantly, and they were not disappointed. A muscle jumped in the corner of Lilith's lips, and her hands tightened.

"This is getting out of hand," Rhys said, focusing everyone's attention on him again. Except for Lilith and Gaige. They were still staring daggers at each other. "I want you to acknowledge one simple fact. Just let me know if you think this is something I would make up."

Rhys wasn't wearing his traditional suit. He decided on a T-shirt and cotton pants. He was surprised to find that it was very much comfortable. He definitely wore suits too much. But as he raised his shirt, he kept his revolver in hand as he turned his back to them. There were a few hisses. Some of them were from voices he recognized. He could also hear scoffs. Other than that, there was silence. Then a slender hand was placed on his back. Much too gentle to be a soldier, so he let it rest. The hand wandered his back; the tips of the fingers tracing over his scars in a caressing fashion.

"Your back looks more like you've been living in a psycho's basement for months. Not here," Gaige's soft voice said.

"It's fine. Felt so good to get my payback," Rhys said as he stepped further and put his shirt back on. He noticed that Zer0 was looking directly at Lilith and the others. He wouldn't be surprised if they tried to attack him while he had his shirt pulled up.

"At least inject a hypo into him! He's almost dead!" one of the soldiers yelled, gesturing down at the soldier Rhys shocked. There was no pity in his gaze or his gesture, but he injected a hypo in his neck, healing his burns for the most part and easing the soldier's pain. But Rhys kept his feet planted on the man's chest, and for the first time since he met him, he didn't think of dare trying to fight him. He might've pushed his luck, but he didn't regret it in the slightest. Whatever it took to make these Hyperions suffer.

"There. He's alive. Now we can get back to the topic at hand," Rhys said, twirling the revolver idly.

"So what do you want? I mean, you have some reason for keeping him alive unless you wanted something," Mordecai spoke up.

"I just want the bigotry to stop. That's it," Rhys said, before chuckling. "But we all know that won't happen. You all hate me. You all despise me to the point where I'm not worth any kind of positive consideration or equal treatment. Even after I gave you my word of loyalty. Even after I went through the trouble of giving you the weapons your so desperately needed as well as the tech. Improving upon your shield generator was me. Even after all of that, you can't get past the fact that that I used to be Hyperion." Rhys looked up at Lilith, Brick, and Mordecai. Weirdly enough, to them at least, his stare held them. It was a type of seriousness that perked the ears.

"He's lying! You know he is! He's a Hyperion!" the soldier known as Jameson shouted at them. He spoke spitefully as he tried and failed to glare at the man who was using his body as a footrest.

"More ignorance," Gaige said idly.

"In the meanwhile, I don't believe you," Lilith said. Rhys' lips thinned and was about to respond when Gaige beat him to it.

"Are you serious? Did you not see that?!" she spat at Lilith, pointing at Rhys. They knew they were referring to his scars on his back. Some of the wounds open, fresh; ready to bleed upon pressure. Rhys unconsciously flexed his shoulders at the uncomfortable feeling he felt when several stares on him.

"Scars? You could've done that to him," Lilith said idly. As it were a fact. The anger that crossed Gaige's face at the accusation flew on her face immediately; her face turned red and her young face was twisted with fury. Her face looked like the Fires of Hell were burning underneath. If anyone normal saw the look on Gaige's face, they would've thought she was possessed by the devil himself.

"How _fucking_ _dare_ you accuse me of doing something like that to a friend of mine?!" Gaige said, her voice coming out like the growl of a rabid skag that just got kicked in the jaw. Her fists were balled up to the point where her human one was turning whiter than usual and her metal one was making a subtle noise from the gears that were groaning from the grip she was putting on it.

Rhys put a hand on her shoulder, making her backhanding him with her metal hand in her anger. Rhys' head jerked to the side hard from the force, his jaw burning from the blow. As he groaned softly from the pain and placed a hand to it, Gaige's shoulders relaxed and blinked a few times before the anger on her face disappeared and it was replaced by a look of regret.

"Oh my... I'm sorry! I got upset!" Gaige said, trying to get him to lower down to her level so she could examine his jaw. He got out of her grip and waved a dismissive hand.

"It's fine. I'm used to pain at this point," Rhys said, summoning a hypo and injecting it into his jaw. The relief was immediate. He saw one of the soldiers dragging the soldier he hurt and Rhys moved past Gaige to move on.

"Fuck it. Take him. I don't even care anymore," he said, moving on to head back toward the garage. But Mordecai grabbed his arm, to which Rhys' response was to glare at him. Mordecai gave him a hard stare of his own, but Rhys' was more piercing. There were more hostility in his stare because there was something personal in it that made the look all the more deadly.

 _"Let. Go. Of. Me,"_ Rhys growled through his teeth. "You put a hand on me, I'll beat you to within an inch of your life just like him. Try me." Mordecai saw the murderous intent and the personal venom he held in what he said. There was no more of the emotionless neutrality. There was no more of the hesitancy of trying to get along with him or trying to play peacekeeper. No more respect. No... consideration. At all. Just... hatred. Hatred and bitterness. As much as he didn't like him, the change in him was startling. So Mordecai did as he asked. He let him go.

"Guess what? You're getting what you wanted. I'm done. I'd sooner see this entire planet burn to death with me along with it than to spend another second here, busting my ass trying to bring you a better city with better weapons and technology and getting nothing but flak for it. People shunning me because of where I came from. Getting beat because of it. Scars littering my back because it. Because of the lack of growth you are showing, you are doing nothing but proving Handsome Jack right about how you may be capable of being nothing but a bunch of savages. And it kills me to say that. You not believe it, but it does," Rhys ranted before pointing to the side, somehow making Mordecai suddenly feel there was no control in his case for him. "Gaige tried to kill me the first time I met her. We're best friends. Zer0 saved my life and the life of someone I cared about without knowing who I was. Even after finding out, he didn't care. Moxxi damn near strangled me after I had to tell her what happened to her son and another one of my friends and even she tolerates me at the very least. Do you have _any_ idea what it's like to watch someone you care about die to save your life and the lives of others and then face that very person's mother and tell her that he is dead?! Would a blatant _bully_ like you even have the fucking courage to do such a thing? Imagine if you had to look the people of this town in the eye and tell them that they're leader is dead?"

Now there was a layer of shock traveling through some of the soldiers. They knew that the mechanic, Scooter, had been missing for a while, but the fact that he was dead?

Mordecai's look hardened at the mention of his friend, and his face lined into the grimmest smile he had ever seen.

"I know the stories. He was _your_ friend," Rhys said, pointing his index fingers at Mordecai. "You weren't there when he died. They were. Most of the Vault Hunters weren't very affected by Roland's passing, but Gaige was. She confides in me. And she tells me that she did not want to inform anyone that Roland was dead. She just wanted to take a moment, calm down, and gather herself so that she could continue so they could try to get this war done. But _no._ You would think that any of the friends of the person that died would tell the people of the town, but _no._ You let a stranger do it for you. Someone who didn't want to do it. You tried to bribe her into doing it. She still refused. Then you go low enough to try guilt tripping her into it, which drove her to actually doing it. Just how much of a cowardly, nerveless little fucker can you be to guilt trip her into informing the town that their leader and _your_ best friend died?! And you claim Hyperions don't give a shit about anyone. You didn't give a shit enough about the people of the town to tell them that their leader and some of them friends that he died. That is the worst example of leadership I have ever seen."

This time Brick was looking at his friend strangely. When Gaige came to him about the news about Roland, Mordecai already told him. His assumption was that his friend had already gotten the news around. Not that he... bribed and guilt tripped someone else into telling the town instead. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't believe a word the Hyperion said. And a part of him wanted to call him out on it. What stopped him was that Mordecai was staring at the Hyperion and saying... nothing. Not a word. Not trying to deny, which is something he would've jumped at if it really wasn't true. But... he wasn't saying a word.

Mordecai glanced at Gaige, who looked at him sternly, but Rhys snapped his fingers.

"Hey!" he barked. "Don't look at her motherfucker. Look at me. Look at someone who isn't afraid to make it known." Rhys' throat sounded like something was animalistic was resting in it and was speaking for him. It was low and primal; like a savage creature. Then Rhys got tired of waiting and moved in front of his field of view.

"Let me tell you something. You can look death in the face and not blink. You can kill a bandit and a Hyperion without batting an eyelash. But you can't tell people that your best friend died and come to terms with what happened. Or did just not care that he died? Is that it?" Rhys accused, looking Mordecai directly in the face. On this, Mordecai barked at him.

"You accuse me of not caring about my friend, you filthy little Hyperion fucker?!" he yelled.

"I'm accusing you of being a cowardly piece of shit who guilt trips people because he can't deal what's going on in his head!" Rhys yelled back louder before pointing at Lilith. "I've seen more pain from what happened to him from her then I've seen you shown from anything from you from any of the stories I've gotten from Gaige. She can't fucking stand me and I can't fuckign stand her, but I've noticed the stress she holds on to everyday. The pain. Like everyday she's walking around this place is like walking on a skag's back. But you... you show absolutely no regard for anything it seems anymore. Not your best friends. Not the people of this city. Just your alcohol and eliminating anything Hyperion. What a pathetic existence."

Now these were words that shocked everyone. Including Lilith. She knew for a fact that her face was constantly stony. Hidden. Veiled to hide herself. Even more than so when she knew a Hyperion was living here. And she was even more on her toes and on edge than usual. No one had noticed it. Somehow, he did. Not only that, it faintly sounded like he actually gave a shit. But the domineering side of her told her that it was to prove a point. But she couldn't shake that small feeling that there was some kind of concern in what he said.

"You claim I'm pathetic? What about you? You followed the heels of a madman for years, never noticing the suffering and tyranny going on down here. You licked his heels and kissed his ass for the longest, looking for him to give you a little handout of his power cause that's all you fuckers care about. You claim I care about nothing? What about you? What do you bother to care about other than the people who you have to like cause they got you a place here?" Mordecai explained. The angry look that was on Rhys' face turned into one of stone.

"Ok. You wanna know what I give a shit about? My best friends. I've been friends with Vaughn since I was a child. After I had no parents. He was my best friend. I gave up the only opportunity I had to get off this planet for him. Not to mention 5 million dollars to go along with that deal. Among the trust I held for another one of my friends, Yvette, she betrayed me. She had no faith that I would survive Pandora, so she cracked a deal with the asshole of the company to try and get something out of it. I knew her for a few months, and even among that, call me an absolute fucking dumbass, but I forgave her. I saved her life on Helios and gave her an escape pod _I_ could've used to escape. _That's_ dedication. _That's_ loyalty. _That_ is friendship. Shall I go on?" Rhys questioned, ranting with pure resolve. He didn't even wait for an answer.

"Ok. How about the fact that I could've let Moxxi stew in the fact that she might've never known what happened to her son. Ever. I gave her that closure. I told her what happened and gave her the details. He died a hero if you bothered to care. Everyone here wanted to kill me once I took one foot on this city. I knew that I might've been killed if I told her. But I did. And I gave her the closure she wanted so she could move on and mourn."

"Or let's look at the fact that when Gaige and me first met, I had her on the ropes. Barely, but I had her. I knew she was a Vault Hunter. I knew she hated Hyperion. I knew she would kill me without a second thought. She's still alive because I didn't kill her. I didn't take her own gun and put a bullet in her head. No. I let her go. I had absolutely no motive in it."

"Now let's look at another picture here. I've lost everything. I have no idea where my friends are. One of them could possibly dead. The other I talked to once since I was on Helios months ago. Haven't heard from him since. The two Pandorans I befriended? Gone. No trace. No idea whether they're alive or dead. And I can't dedicate time to look for them because I have to stand here and deal with your shit cause you would suspect mutiny for me looking for my friends."

Now this is what caught everyone's attention. As Rhys spoke, he didn't bother to hide the tears streaming down his face. The resolve was on his face, but he looked like he was also just short of a breakdown.

"You've never felt trapped in your own little hellhole, have you? You went through war, but you had most of your friends. You had your town that was basically your family. Well what the fuck do I have? My mom dead cause of Hyperion, my dad God knows where, and all my friends gone and probably dead. I have a few people in my corner with you against me. So yeah. I'm tired of it. I'm upset with it. And I'm fucking miserable on the inside. I don't even give you a fuck if you see me cry. You think you know suffering? Walk a fucking mile in my shoes." Angrily pushing Mordecai to the side and angrily rubbing his eyes of his tears, he stormed towards the garage.

There was a type of subdued shock among the converged group. The tears that flew from his eyes surprised many. It wasn't even about what had been done to him. It was about what he had been through before he had came here. And then when you stacked it on top of what he was dealing now, many of the soldiers were surprised he hadn't gone through a full mental breakdown. But in that moment, he looked like he was close.

"I bet you're real happy, aren't you? You made the Hyperion cry. You made him give up. I bet you're all real happy about it, aren't you?" Gaige said spitefully. Despite what she thought the soldiers felt like, the answer was no. Surprisingly, no. None of them felt happy, not even satisfied. Most felt empty; like there was no point in it. Others felt guilty. For once in their life, they looked at him as a person. Not Hyperion, but a person. And, dare they even think it, no one deserved what he had on his shoulders if everything he said was true. And there was almost no doubt that it was. Any arguments that it wasn't was feeble. Very feeble.

"No. I would say I don't. I... daresay I feel kind of bad for him," Jessup admitted. Gaige was not forgiving in the slightest.

"Oh, _now_ you feel sorry for him? Should've thought about that when you added stress to somebody by, I don't know... having your soldiers beat the hell out of him every other night?" she said venomously. Though she was much younger than any of the soldiers, it was amazing how she was able to make them, _grown soldiers_ feel like misbehaving children.

"Let him leave. There's nothing for him here. Things won't change," Lilith said coldly before walking away. Gaige and even a few of the soldiers including Jessup looked at Lilith in disbelief. Gaige just shook her head in disgust before walking off towards the garage. She caught him leaving just outside, his coat on and rubbing his temples with his ECHO on his belt.

"I don't blame you for getting out of here," she said.

"I'm done. I don't know what else I can do. I try. And I try. And I try. And they just push and push and push me over closer and closer to the edge. To the point where you just want to jump yourself," Rhys said, his shoulders slumped. Gaige looked at him in sadness. He truly looked like a man who had just... given up. Fought with the last of his strength, and was just exhausted.

"I'm coming with you," Gaige said.

"You're not. I want these days to myself. I want to hit the road in peace," Rhys said. Gaige looked slightly hurt, but he put a hand on her shoulder. "It's not permanent. You will see me. Just until I've dealt with a few things. Take care." Rhys gave her a kiss on the the top of her forehead before giving her a hug. He supposed it was the most affectionate he had been with someone.

"You better not take too long," Gaige told him firmly, but the voice crack gave up the facade of how serious she sounded.

"I will," he assured her before standing up straight and walking past her. Rhys walked towards the Fast Travel and he could feel the stares on him before a single whoop broke the air.

"That's right! Get the fuck out of here you... GAHAWWW!" The one citizen that whooped was cut off by his own scream of pain after Rhys put a bullet in his knee before shooting his other knee and making him fall to the ground. He then made the gun disappear.

"That's for the misery you've been causing me jackass. And you deserve more," he said, raising the hood on his jacket before continuing. He went to the Fast Travel, chose a destination, and left.

Gaige was sitting on the ground and she pounded the ground, the frustration of the entire situation working its way into her mind. The frustration manifested itself into tears as she took ahold of her hair and gripped it tight, wondering why her closest friend here had to leave. Now she really wanted to leave. The people wouldn't change. And it made her wonder why she bothered staying around here. The only one she felt like she could talk to before Rhys was Moxxi and occasionally Maya. So to have to someone who she had that closeness with leave was more than upsetting.

Gaige stood up and dragged herself back to the garage. She sat in the middle and she just sat there in silence. The atmosphere was depressing and she was silent the whole time.

"There you are sugar. You mind telling me what's up? I'm getting a weird vibe from every... one..." Moxxi trailed as she saw how empty the garage was. "Alright, what happened? What happened to all the stuff in here? Why are you on the ground? Where's..."

"He's gone," Gaige said, not bothering to hide the misery in her voice. Though he assured her that he wasn't gone for good, she wasn't exactly reassured.

"Oh." Moxxi sounded flatter than a soda left in the hot sun for seven Pandoran days. "I kind of wanted to talk with him as well, but uh... yeah." The faint click of her heels let Gaige know that Moxxi was talking away. Gaige knew she was upset. She was just better at hiding it.

After lying there for what seemed like hours(and most likely were), Gaige finally stood up and walked up the stairs and decided to pass Moxxi's before she went back to the hideout. She was nowhere to be found. Gaige finally decided to give into her exhaustion and head back to the hideout with the rooms she slept in.

But as she was on the way to the main building where their bunks were, she could hear arguing going on. The two voices were apparent: Moxxi and Mordecai. And if her instincts were right, it wasn't about alcohol or the fact that they were exes. So she stuffed her fingers in her ears as she rushed past.

As Gaige rushed through, she caught a glimpse of Moxxi's face, which was visibly red even through her makeup. Mordecai looked incensed as well in his yelling as well. Probably the most he's ever been towards the woman. As she neared them, she was still moving fast, but still caught a few words.

"...are a pathetic drunk motherfucker!"

"You agree with-" That was as far as she heard before Gaige made it inside. She went upstairs and she ignored everyone she past before she went inside a door, closed it, locked it, and put her head under of a pillow. She just wanted to ride out the insanity and count down the days that Rhys would finally contact her and get her the fuck out of here. Cause to be quite honest, she was about to have a meltdown. And it was likely going to either be on Lilith or Mordecai. Nice and civilized, it would not be.


	11. Chapter 11 - Welcome to Life

Rhys wiped a sweaty brow, but was still smiling as he looked around. It had taken a week of work, but he did it. It took a lot of cleaning, steaming, dragging, lifting, and things of the sort, but he finally finished it. Old Haven looked like a city again. The amount of blood he had to clean off and the amount of corpses he had to burn were sickening to anyone who wasn't living on Pandora, but it was as simple as cleaning dirt to him.

Rhys sighed as he looked around the Atlas base that was seemingly at the heart of the town. He owned Atlas, so by association, he owned this town. He put a lot of work into cleaning the town. This was his right as a company leader. To run his own town and start his own community. Be the businessman that he knew he was capable of. It all started from the bottom. Then you worked you way up.

Rhys cracked his neck as he stepped out of the Atlas base and took a look around his city. It was clean, it was fresh, it was brand fucking new. A fresh start. And he loved it. It's no longer Old Haven. It's now called Life. Just life. Because this was a place you could just live. No judgement. No hassle for what you used to be. A place where you could just _live._ He liked the name, and he was going to be damned if he called it anything else. Cause this is the city he wanted to make. Now there were a few things he needed to make it complete. With a smile on his face, he grabbed his ECHO of the table he laid it on.

"Gaige?" Rhys asked.

 _"Rhys?"_ Her voice made him frown. The bit of happiness and hope was something he was expecting. But for it to sound so relieved, so... he didn't wanna use the word desperate, but that's what it sounded like.

 _"Is there anything wrong?"_ he asked.

 _"Besides the fact that you've been going an entire week without contact, yeah. I'm completely fine,"_ Gaige said in the most sarcastic tone she could muster. But she couldn't deny that she felt happy to hear from him again. God, to spend a week in Sanctuary was hell what with Fuhrer Lilith going around, irking on her nerves in the worst possible way along with the rest of the citizens. Moxxi wasn't around no where near as much, and Maya wasn't the best for helping her feel less grim about the situation she was in.

"Well, jeez. Excuse me. Takes a while to clean up a town that has spent more time being a slaughterhouse than a city," Rhys said sarcastically before he grinned and his tone became more genuine. "Good to hear from you though."

 _"And you as well. I tell you what. I'm being driven crazy here,"_ Gaige said.

"That bad?" Rhys asked.

 _"Mordecai breathes down everyone's neck about the mistake it was to allow a Hyperion here. Lilith's still got a hold on her little empire trying to lead things while being the biggest bitch she can about it. I have no one to talk to cause Moxxi's around almost none of the time, and she's the only the person with somewhat reliable conversation. It's ridiculous!"_ Gaige exclaimed.

"Sounds like you've been living the life," Rhys said with a chuckle in his voice.

 _"Totally. How about I let a psycho use me to make a skin pizza? Sounds like even more fun to me,"_ Gaige said with more sarcasm, making Rhys throw his head back and laugh.

"Ah, there's the charming Gaige that I know. But I'm tired as hell. Took the time to clean out Old Haven, think about something, and kind of set up. I have a clear mind, but I'm tired as fuck," Rhys explained to her.

 _"You sound like it. How long you been cleaning?"_ Gaige asked.

"Today, ten hours. This past week? Twenty-seven a day," Rhys said, making Gaige whistle.

 _"Surprised you're not used to it by now,"_ she said.

"I wish I was. But between inventing and cleaning, I'm left good and drained," Rhys said.

 _"Well, if you had invited me, I could've helped you,"_ Gaige said in a not so subtle way, making Rhys sigh.

"I needed the time to myself. To clear my head. I told you that," he said in a tone that was as exhausted as she felt. Gaige sighed as well, though hers was more on the remorseful side.

 _"I know. Doesn't mean I liked it. Does this mean I can come down with you?"_ Gaige asked.

"It does. Feel free to bring anyone you think would fit in," Rhys said.

 _"So basically just Zer0 then?"_ Gaige asked.

"There's no one else you think would fit in?" Rhys questioned. Gaige furrowed her eyebrows in thought. She thought of Moxxi, who seemed slightly upset about Rhys' leave. Maya would be... possible, but then again, she couldn't really take chances with possible. Yet she was kind of doing that with Moxxi. She just wasn't sure.

 _"Well, Moxxi might, but..."_

"She'll be fine," Rhys immediately said. Gaige tilted her head at Rhys' insistence.

 _"You sure. I've heard a lot of stories, and... I don't want the same thing that happened to New Haven to happen to here. I just want to make sure you only let people you can trust in here,"_ she said.

"I understand your concern. But isn't she your friend? Don't you trust her?" Rhys asked.

 _"Well... sort of? In this situation, I don't know how she feels about you,"_ Gaige said honestly.

"Then we'll give it a shot. I'm trying to hold on to some kind of faith in some of them. The fact that they're not all pieces of shit," Rhys said, his tone sounding like poison.

 _"I'll try it just cause you told me to. It's your city,"_ Gaige said, making Rhys smile.

"Thanks Gaige. Now hurry up. We've got a lot of catching up to do," he said.

 _"Yeah, yeah you big goof. I'll round em up. Hope you haven't gotten lazy on your inventing,"_ Gaige said, making Rhys shake his head.

"I've been working on this town so much. How would I find time to invent? I mean, that is if I didn't invent, _which_ I actually found time to do by the way," Rhys questioned.

 _"No excuses,"_ Gaige said with a smirk. _"But we'll be there as fast as possible."_

"Can't wait. I don't have much for a welcoming party, but we'll find something to do," Rhys said.

 _"Don't bother. Getting out of this place is good enough for me. Be there fast,"_ Gaige said before turning off the call. Rhys laid his ECHO on the table before sitting down in his chair. At least he would finally have someone to talk to.

* * *

Gaige couldn't resist doing a cliche fist pump as she got off the call. It certainly had more dignity than her jumping in the air and squealing like a little girl. That just wasn't her style.

The most important thing, however, is that she would be away from this place. And she'd be glad for it too. Honestly, the only way she would come back to this place is if that threat that Eridian was talking about had showed up. In other words, if she had no choice.

Heading back from out of the garage, which she spent a lot of time in since Rhys left, she moved towards the center of town. Looking around, things looked relatively average. She saw, with a small smirk, that the civilian who keep messing with Rhys was still hobbling on a shot leg. She made a habit of shooting him in the leg every time he went to go get a hypo. This went on for about three days until she told him he had to let it heal naturally or she would keep shooting him in the leg. Her own form of punishment for the guy. Though she knew if Rhys had his way, his punishment would've been a lot worse, judging by the state of the Lanceman he grabbed last week.

"Where's Zer0?" Gaige asked Axton, who was in the Archive Room, or the HQ for the Raiders in this town.

"On a job with Maya. He'll return in a minute," he said. Gaige nodded. She could wait a little while longer. Considering Lilith wasn't in attendance. Neither was Mordecai it seemed. As long as no one pissed her off, she would be fine.

"You seem more excited than usual," Axton said, noticing how restless Gaige seemed.

"Neither Lilith nor Mordecai are here. That's enough to raise my spirits," Gaige said.

"You really don't like them, do you?" Axton asked.

"No I don't. It's reinforced by how they acted when Rhys was here," Gaige said, a sour look replacing her happy one.

"Ah, yes. Your ex-Hyperion friend," Axton said, knowing exactly how she felt on the situation. She had made it known to all the Vault Hunters numerous times. "Well, this _is_ Sanctuary. The place where Hyperions are not welcome."

"Yet, considering the circumstances, you would think they would come to warm up to him at least a little. But no. No they didn't. And then when you take into consideration all he's done to help this city become better armed, better protected? It definitely makes no sense. How many people do you think know how to build powerful shield generators that are powered by regular shields?" Gaige questioned in a rant.

"None," Axton said flatly. "But even the, none of that matters to the people int his place. He's still Hyperion through and through no matter what he does," Axton told her.

"It's fucking stupid. Worst part is that I think I was the only one who bothered to care besides possibly Zer0," Gaige said bitterly.

"I don't know about that..." Axton trailed, making Gaige raise an eyebrow.

"You got something to tell me?" she asked.

"Well... how much have you seen Moxxi since he left?" Axton asked. Gaige only raised her eyebrow eyebrow higher. It was kinda like what Rhys was suggesting about telling her about his little settlement in Old Haven.

"About once or twice. I don't really keep up with her too much," Gaige said, stretching the truth a little there. "Why?"

"Well, I can count with one hand the amount of times I've seen her. And I'm the one who visits the bar every day," Axton said.

"Maybe you're not showing up in time," Gaige said.

"No, she's got someone serving stuff. She only shows up every now and then. And when she's there, she seems kind of sullen," Axton told her.

"Ok, I'm kind of seeing your point. You may be right," Gaige said.

"I think I'm more than right. So you're not the only one who seems upset about the whole thing. I'm not necessarily broken up about the whole thing, but I did want him to stay and help us kick ass," Axton said, making Gaige smile.

"That's about all you think about, huh?" she asked.

"Of course. I live for the glory. And the money. I'll admit that to anyone, anytime," Axton said with a smirk.

"Duly noted," Gaige said. But Axton kind of gave her a sideways look before eyeing her.

"You know, Moxxi doesn't normally get that upset over most men. I think if he had stayed around, he woulda gotten lucky," he said in a loud whisper while wiggling his eyebrows, causing Gaige punch him in the arm. With the metal one.

"Ow! Did you have to use that one?"

"Yes, I did. Cause sometimes, that's what it takes to get your mind out of the gutter," Gaige said, putting a finger on the top of her forehead.

"I'm just calling it like I see it," Axton said, raising his hands in surrender.

"Mind not seeing it in the filthiest way possible?" Gaige questioned.

"That's like how Moxxi is seeing it. And possibly him once or twice. And to think they're old enough to be mother and son, but who cares on this planet?" Axton said.

"Why are you even talking about this?" Gaige asked in an exasperated tone.

"Cause the fact that he was friends with the son of the woman he's going to fuck is kinda interesting to think about. At least to me," Axton said.

"That's really weird Axton. Even by Pandoran standards," Gaige said, giving him a bewildered look.

"Well, I've always been a wild card," Axton said idly.

"I'm so done with you," Gaige said, waving an idle hand. But at the same time couldn't resist grinning right as Mordecai walked in. He eyed Gaige once he saw she was in there.

"What are you discussing?" he asked. Gaige turned at the voice, and her smile instantly disappeared.

"Nothing that concerns you," she said, looking at Mordecai distastefully. Then he looked at her with the same kind of distaste.

"Still can't seem to acknowledge that we were right about your Hyperion friend?" he asked.

"I acknowledge the fact that you're a drunk with a bias problem," Gaige said.

"I quit drinking, remember?" Mordecai said rhetorically.

"What, you drink nineteen bottles a day instead of twenty? That doesn't really count," Gaige said, Mordecai growling at her accusation.

"Are you two going to act like this every time you meet?" Axton asked.

"More than likely so," Gaige said, moving past Mordecai because she didn't want to spend another second with the man. If you could even truly call him that, but that wasn't much of a problem in her case. She knew what he was.

Deciding to go ahead and check the bar, she looked inside Moxxi's place of business and saw that the woman in question was actually behind the bar which kinda of made Axton's story inconsistent. I mean, what are the odds she showed up one of the few times Moxxi would be here? (Because plot, that's why)

 _"I'm trying to hold on to some kind of faith in some of them. The fact that they're not all pieces of shit."_ Gaige sighed. She wouldn't deny him what he wanted, but she was still hesitant about it. She was kind of half and half on the situation. She hoped the good half was correct.

"Hey Moxxi," Gaige said with a bright smile.

"You seem awfully cheerful sugar," Moxxi said, looking at Gaige idly before going back to cleaning the glass she had in her hands.

"I heard from Rhys," Gaige said. Moxxi's eyes darted up for a brief second before going back to the glass she was cleaning as if she was rather unconcerned about the news.

"That explains why you're so excited. Why are you telling me?" Moxxi asked. Gaige sighed. It was time to be blunt.

"Do me a favor and not bullshit me. I knew you were upset about him leaving. You're just better at hiding these kinds of things," Gaige said, looking Moxxi dead in the eye. The woman in question simply raised an eyebrow, causing Gaige to do the same thing, albeit more sarcastically.

"I definitely didn't want him to leave, but I'm not that upset about it. Not as upset as you were," Moxxi said.

"Knowing you, you could've taken it worse than I did. You hide your reactions so well, and I have yet to know how," Gaige said.

"You have a point to this?" Moxxi asked shortly, not wanting to tread in this conversation.

"Since you want to know so badly, Rhys has a city of his own. Well, he owns it via association of the fact he owns Atlas. Old Haven," Gaige said, lowering her voice down to a whisper so she wouldn't be overheard.

"Where all the Lancemen used to set up?" Moxxi questioned, making Gaige nod. "That's a lot of cleaning up to do."

"He finished. Old Haven is now a clean corpse-free zone. And you're one of the people he wants to come live in it," Gaige told her.

Moxxi tilted her head at the girl that was standing in front of her. But her thoughts were on the ex-Hyperion that had extended the invitation. Moxxi didn't know whether he was easy trusting or what, but she was surprised that he was willing to let her know where he set up shop. All it took was to tell Mordecai and the others where he set up shop, have them send a strike team there, and it was over. But she didn't want to do that. It was kind of the furthest thing from her mind. And it was more than just giving Mordecai the middle finger.

"Really?" Moxxi asked.

"Yeah, really. To be honest, I told him about the small risk that there is to that, but you won't tell anyone, will you?" Gaige asked.

"No. I really don't want to. But as far as leaving the city..."

"You honestly can't believe it's better than staying here?" Gaige asked.

"Sanctuary's already got a base, a structure. Things already taken care of. He... Rhys doesn't really have that," Moxxi reminded her.

"Yeah, but we can build on that. All it takes is a little work. That's the point of..." Gaige kind of glanced around to see if anyone was listening in on their conversation. They weren't. They were either too drunk, into their conversations, or couldn't hear cause of the blaring music. "...of building on a new city. It'll certainly be better than than a place of prejudice like this."

"I can't just leave straight out. I have a business here, a familiarity. Leaving is just weird right now. You understand, don't you sugar?" Moxxi asked.

"Not really. But maybe that's just me," Gaige said before sighing. "Well, in his case, the offer still stands. But I'm leaving as soon as Zer0 gets here."

"He's going too?" Moxxi asked.

"Rhys and Zer0 have a master and apprentice thing going on. Zer0 likes him a lot. I think he's proud of what he's helped Rhys become. A skilled fighter. A warrior. And Rhys is really grateful for that as well," Gaige said.

"You know a lot about it," Moxxi said.

"I pay attention. I see it. I love the dynamic between the two. The fact that they both have cool ass swords and are pretty good when it comes to stealth reinforces that they work really well as a team," Gaige said.

"You mean Zer0 might've actually found someone that's compatible with his style of work?" Moxxi asked.

"That's exactly what I think," Gaige said, making Moxxi whistle.

"He must really like him," she said.

"Cause he's earned the treatment. You can't honestly tell me you don't like him?" Gaige questioned.

Moxxi's lips pursued while her expression became thoughtful. She remembered how courteous he to her even through her constant insistence that he was like every other Hyperion. But the thing that really made an impression was the politeness. The manners and the etiquette he showed. With most men, it was about sex for her. The only person she daresay acted anything like Rhys did was Roland. And he had a girlfriend. She wasn't so sure that Rhys did though.

Gaige stood there while tapping her fingers on the side of her arms. She was kinda used to the silences that Moxxi gave. At times, she went deep in thought like this. It seemed like she was really giving what Gaige asked some true thought.

"I do like him. Hyperion or no, he has manners. Something most males seem to forget to have when they're around me and try to act on the reputation I think I have," Moxxi said, her lips pursued. While she didn't mind having her fun with men who had just as much fun as she did, outside of that, there was no type of courtesy.

"And that's my point. It's hard not to like Rhys cause of the way he acts. He's a person that tries to get along with everyone he meets. Well, everyone who isn't a total asshole or tries to kill him. It's something not many people here realized, but you did," Gaige said.

"That's because I'm not as bad as Mordecai or any of the others. I didn't really want to talk to him or get close to him in any way, but... well, he kinda of gave me no choice," Moxxi said.

"What do you mean by that?" Gaige asked.

"He knew how to play his cards to make me talk to him. He got Maya to make me even give him the light of day so he could tell me about what happened to Scooter." Moxxi swallowed hard, but continued. "He knew how play his cards. He's definitely a Hyperion by how he was able to handle a situation, but he has the kindness and manners that just about every one of them seemed to lack." The more Moxxi thought about it, the more she realized that he was actually better than most in terms of manners.

"Cause he's smart. I daresay he's the smartest son of a bitch here. Well, was here," Gaige said with a smile.

There it was again. That little part of Moxxi that itched to tell that she was not as black and white as she seemed and that she was a very capable genius. But at the same time, she would lose that little bit of edge. But again, at the same time, she could simply make Gaige promise she wouldn't tell anyone. But also again, what exactly made that promise binding? Nothing really.

"And you don't count yourself in the game?" Moxxi decided to question instead.

"Well, I would if he hadn't shown me stuff that... well, stunned the shit out of me. He knows a lot about tech design. And I mean A LOT. It's almost as if he swallowed every single book, article and such on the subject," Gaige said.

"He knows that much?" Moxxi questioned.

"Yeah. And considering he's trying to build a company from ashes, he kind of needs to," Gaige said.

"Oh right. He's the new owner of Atlas. Think he'll let us in on the weapons?" Moxxi asked.

"I certainly hope so. He even asked me if I wanted to sign on to help with ideas and prototypes. I would get paid for it too," Gaige said with a smile.

"Sounds like a nice occupation," Moxxi said.

"It definitely is. Now, I'm sure the offer still stands if you change your mind..."

"I probably will. Just... give me a few," Moxxi said, making Gaige nod.

"Alright. I'll grab Zer0 and we'll take our leave. Don't tell anyone. Just let them figure it out for themselves," Gaige said, making Moxxi nod. She couldn't deny that the offer to just up and leave was tempting. But she needed to be better prepared. They may have had everything they needed, but Moxxi didn't. Not quite anyway.

Gaige walked back out of the bar, and then a hand found its way to her shoulder. She immediately wheeled her head around, but she was staring straight into the empty mask of Zer0.

"There you are. I've been looking for you," Gaige said.

"So I've heard," Zer0 said. Gaige shook her head. It was still really weird when he didn't speak in haiku, because for the longest time, that was all he spoke in. "What is it you need?"

"We need to talk in a place more private," Gaige said, making Zer0 nod. The two of them walked toward the edge of the city and looked around to make sure no one was around to hear them. They weren't.

"Alright, I heard from Rhys. He's got Old Haven all set up," she told him. He nodded.

"Are you prepared to leave immediately?" Zer0 asked. Gaige nodded. Then he simply walked off. Gaige followed him, curious as to what he was doing. It took them both making it all the way over to the Fast Travel for her to realize that he was already ready to leave. Duh. So was she, so she could go ahead and leave. She had her loot in her ECHO and everything.

"I predicted you would be ready as soon as you informed me," Zer0 said. Gaige simply rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't rub it in," she said. Zer0 simply made a smiley face emoji before moving to the Fast Travel, traveling them both to the Fast Travel closest to Old Haven. But somehow, Rhys was already there. Gaige was surprised to see him already waiting there.

"I figured you'd show up here, so I decided to wait for you," he said with a smile. Gaige slowly walked up to him before giving him a hug. Rhys smiled wider before bending his knees slightly so he could hug her better.

"Good to see you too," he said. She then backed up and caught sight of him bending his knees to hug her.

"You know, that's kind of insulting," Gaige said, pointing to his knees that were just bent.

"That wasn't my intention, you know," Rhys said.

"I know. Still don't like the fact that you are a lot taller than me since when I first met you," Gaige said with a small pout.

"Well, blame my body for that. Can't help it that I grew a little. To be honest, it was about time," Rhys said before turning to Zer0 and bowing. "Zer0."

The assassin turned and looked at his apprentice before bowing to him in respects as well with his fist over his heart; both warriors treating each other with the absolute respect.

"Are you two going to do this every time you greet each other?" Gaige asked.

"More than likely / It is a respectful gesture / Among fellow warriors," Zer0 said. He turned to Rhys, who nodded in agreement. Gaige simply shook her head before turning her head to address Rhys. She was just gonna roll with it for now.

"Since you knew we were going to be here, I assume you have a ride or something to take us back to Old Haven?" Gaige asked.

"Better. I happened to have reprogrammed and repaired the old Fast Travel at Old Haven. With a few upgrades and some repairs, there's a fully working Fast Travel there. You two will receive the coordinates to it once you arrive. There'a a bounty board, vendors, everything you need to continue doing your business. It's all set up," Rhys explained, clapping his hands together.

"You really have thought of everything, haven't you?" Gaige asked.

"I wouldn't be half the genius I think I am if I didn't. Ready?" Rhys asked as he gestured to the Fast Travel.

"Yeah," Gaige said. Zer0 nodded as well. Rhys then typed in coordinates on the Fast Travel panel before teleporting them to Old Haven, making sure to program the Fast Travel to wipe its memory of this location.

"Whoa," Gaige said, looking around the place. The place was void of corpses and blood. That was definitely a noticeable feature. But what definitely made an impression was how... connected everything was. Not just through technology, but there was something different about how this was set up. It had a homey feeling. And there was a sign set up directly in the center, the neon glow not very bright in the day time, but definitely there. It said, "Welcome to Life."

"'Welcome to Life.' That's quite an interesting sign to put up," Gaige said.

"That's the name of the town now. Life. Just Life," Rhys said with a wistful air as he looked up in the sky. He began looking around his city while looking at the buildings. Gaige noticed the look of pride and the happiness on his face. He looked like a man in his own happy little world.

"This is my city," Rhys said, sighing happily before turning back to his two friends. "But that's enough of my wonder. Shall we?"

"Lets," Gaige and Zer0 said at the same time before following Rhys.

* * *

Moxxi was still standing at her bar with a thoughtful look on her face. She had her hand underneath her chin as she stood in place. Truthfully, this bar wasn't much of a place of business. It was just something to do while making some money on the side. It was nothing with substance. And considering the work that Rhys was going into, she would have a job a lot more interesting. And lucrative. Then again, she did like having the booze. But also then again, she could take that with her.

"You seen Gaige?" Moxxi heard Maya ask once she walked in the bar. The woman in question briefly looked up from her blank stare before shaking her head.

"Not recently sugar. Why?" Moxxi asked.

"Just a job I thought she'd be interested in. Just let me know if you see her. But what's on your mind?" Maya asked, genuinely curious. It was usually her job to ask about these things cause it led to another job. But in this case, this was just curiosity's sake.

"Thinking about some changes concerning the business. Nothing too extreme sugar," Moxxi assured her.

"Alright. Let me know if there's anything you need," Maya said, walking off. Moxxi immediately was returned back to her thoughts. Decisions, decisions. She had a general idea of who was right and who was wrong in this case. Question is, how should she go about it?

* * *

A/N: The path I'm trying to take is slow, but it's getting there. I definitely have plans for what happens in the future, but until then.


	12. Chapter 12 - Cracked Masks

"So she said no because our place doesn't have much of a structure yet?" Rhys asked.

"Yes. I'm sure once we get set up more. Bring in more money, get more people and the like, and we'll have her on our side," Gaige said.

"Good. The more people on our side, the better. And regardless whether I have you and Zer0 on our side, they have plenty of other Vault Hunters and soldiers on their side. In some cases, we might have to cut our losses," Rhys said.

"We won't. I have faith we'll be able to handle them if need be. I like the others, but if worst comes to worst..."

"...all family ties have to be cut. Yeah," Rhys said in a solemn voice. He sounded genuinely sorry that she would have to do that with people she genuinely cared about. The Vault Hunters she fought with to kill Handsome Jack were the only ones on that list. She didn't really put anyone else but Moxxi on that list if she decided not to include those in this list. She didn't really care about Lilith, Brick, and Mordecai considering what they tried to pull with Rhys. The soldiers were also expendable in her eyes. Especially the asshole who thought torturing someone was an ok thing when they did nothing yet. She had gone over this in her head so many times already. Question is, had she actually convinced herself?

"Work will still need to be done. Sanctuary isn't the only city that needs an army for hire," Zer0 said.

"You're right. We need an army of our own to defend it," Gaige said.

"I might have an idea as to who we can call upon," Rhys said with his arms crossed. Gaige looked at him, and the seriousness in his face, tone made him look very much like a leader. Not to mention his stance. The proud way he stood.

"Who?" she asked.

"There were a few Pandorans that became friends with when I first came here. I trust them with my life. I also trust their capabilities to be reliable gun hands. Just got to find them," Rhys said.

"The friends you mentioned that you couldn't track down cause of the accusations that would be sure to come in, right?" Gaige said, making Rhys nod. "We'll definitely help you with that. Where you do you suppose we start?"

"Hollow Point. It's where they lived when I first met them. I can assume they went back there if they got out alive," Rhys said, leaning over his desk. "And I know we're going to need more people as well. Cassius is also a designer that I'm sure we can rely on considering he works for me now. If we find him, we'll find Vaughn. And he'll be at the second Atlas base."

"Just how many bases did you find while finding this Vault?" Gaige asked.

"Plenty. Met a lot of assholes along the way too, but that's besides the point. We can move out for Hollow Point whenever you're ready," Rhys said.

"Me and Zer0 have a job list to wrap up first. We'll head out with if you feel like waiting," Gaige said.

"I keep an eye on your job lists. I know whether or not you're busy. I have something set up with Marcus involving my weapon designs. We can make some discussions and plans while you're out doing your jobs. I also have inventions and weapons to work on if you're still gone," Rhys said.

"Genius, as always," Gaige said with a smile. "See you in a minute." Rhys nodded as they headed out of the building. Rhys smiled to himself as he began putting a laser together. It's been a while since anyone company has made a decent laser. They're pretty much wiped from the face of the planet since before Jack took over. Time to change that. The problem was making sure he got it right.

Then he got a call on his ECHO. A pleased smile came to Rhys' face. He was always glad to hear about some possible good news for his business. So he eagerly took the call.

 _"Am I who you were expecting?"_ a feminine voice said over the ECHO. It turned his pleased smile into a confused frown.

"Certainly not. Did not expect you to call," Rhys said.

 _"I delayed your call with Marcus for now. He'll call you later,"_ Moxxi said.

"What is it do you need?" Rhys asked.

 _"I'm just offering a more formal explanation as to why I didn't agree to move to your city,"_ Moxxi said.

"It's because Sanctuary has structure. We don't. Not yet at least. I heard it from Gaige," Rhys said.

 _"Oh, so she did explain correctly? Excellent,"_ Moxxi said.

"If that was it, you can inform Marcus to contact me and we can..."

 _"That wasn't all,"_ Moxxi said abruptly.

"Oh." Rhys was surprised. He didn't expect her to say that even though he knew it wouldn't make sense for her to delay his business entirely for one thing. "Then, what else is there?"

 _"How are you?"_ Moxxi asked. Rhys was disarmed by the question. Normally, she didn't say no more than a few words to him without the presence of Gaige.

"Oh. Well, I'm fine. Can't complain. Got out of that hellhole and I got a little city of my own to look after," Rhys said with a smile. "I renamed the city you know."

 _"Renamed it? To what?"_ Moxxi asked.

"Life. Just Life. This is a place where you could just live. No judgement. No hassle for what you used to be. A place where you can just _live,"_ Rhys said, repeating his words from his thoughts that he had earlier. And then he felt the same type of pride he did when he first thought it.

 _"So you're a poet now?"_ Moxxi asked with a small chuckle.

"Kinda?" Rhys said hesitantly before chuckling softly. "It's what I feel about the place though."

 _"How is it I felt more heart in that sentence that you gave about a city than Mordecai ever gave about me?"_ Moxxi questioned, making Rhys hiss while rubbing his neck awkwardly. That was quite a thing to say. To him, out of all people.

"Ouch. Was he that..."

 _"When a guy gives more attention to a bird than his girlfriend, then yes. He was that bad,"_ Moxxi said in an affirmative tone.

"Bird?" Rhys questioned. "You mean Talon? You would think if he gives him that much attention he would..."

 _"Oh, no. Not Talon. He had one before him. Bloodwing. Now if she was still alive, she would've most likely torn your throat out cause she loves Mordecai too much to stray away from him,"_ Moxxi said, making Rhys cringe a little.

"Is it bad I'm glad she's dead?" he asked.

 _"After what he put you through, you're within your rights to think he deserves punishment for it. Whether that punishment is a beat down, a few bullets, a death of his pet bird,"_ Moxxi said casually.

"You make it sound so simple," Rhys said.

 _"Because it is, to be honest. You just love making it complex,"_ Moxxi said.

"I do love complex sometimes. It's fun tearing apart a problem. There's something... insanely satisfying about that," Rhys said, grinning and his grin showing through his voice. Moxxi could hear it, and she found it kind of cute how nerdy he actually was from how excited he actually sounded.

 _"Well, I see someone spent a lot of time studying in school,"_ Moxxi said.

"The number one goal of Hyperion was to be successful. If you weren't, you drowned. But I wanted to stand out above the rest. You have to show your genius to be successful. Success above the rest. So you can be the best," Rhys said in the same motivational voice he used to remember his instructors beat into to his head all day, every day.

 _"You sound like like those stuck up teachers that probably taught you that shit,"_ Moxxi said, making Rhys smile from how she called it instantly.

"Well, you start to sound like them when they force it in your head every. Five. Fucking. Minutes," Rhys said deliberately. She couldn't contain a small laugh at how exasperated he sounded. "Hey, I got you to laugh. That's not half bad."

 _"I laugh at things that sound funny. That actually was to me,"_ Moxxi told him.

"Fucking hell," Rhys said in disbelief.

 _"Jesus, you sound worse than Torgue. At least his stuff is censored,"_ Moxxi said.

"You're telling me you have a problem with my swearing?" Rhys asked with a raised eyebrow.

 _"I'm not saying I have a problem with it. I'm just saying you've got a little habit on your hands,"_ Moxxi said.

"Well, I wouldn't say it's a habit. More like... a life choice," Rhys said, choosing his words deliberately. Moxxi had to hold in a snort that would've thrown her out of character.

 _"Yeah, and my boobs are a life choice,"_ she said with a chuckle.

"Are they?" Rhys said before he could stop himself. Then he slapped his head to his forehead from when the question.

Moxxi actually leaned back a few inches and looked at the ECHO in surprise before smiling. That question... damn, that was actually kind of bold. She could appreciate that.

"Yeah, my bad. That question was out of line," Rhys said, rubbing the back of his head. Moxxi couldn't resist chuckling.

 _"No, you're fine. Contrary to popular belief, yes they are real. I can say one thing. You can't put a true tattoo on implants. Ink from an ink pen or marker or anything relating to the sort will color more weirdly or start to fade after a few months. Anyone who knows the material that implants are made out of would know that,"_ Moxxi explained with something akin to a fire in her voice, making Rhys chuckle. She sounded so knowledgeable about the situation. Like she was a professor. Hmm. If his suspicions were right, she could've been.

"I see you're very knowledgeable about this subject. But..." Rhys faltered before turning red because he just realized they were talking about her boobs the entire time. "...yeah. That happened."

 _"Sorry I made if I made it awkward for you sugar. But if anyone calls my boobs fake, you set them straight,"_ Moxxi said with a semi-serious tone.

"Fake." Rhys couldn't resist. A wry smile came to his face as he said it. There was just some part of him that couldn't resist.

Then he heard Moxxi give off a light, airy laugh. He was expecting yelling, but this was far more satisfying.

 _"Why, you cheeky little son of a bitch. At least we know under that businessman exterior, there's a sense of humor,"_ she said, letting a small smile stay on her face.

"Of course there is. It's just whether or not I decide to bring it out," Rhys said with his signature smirk on his face. They were both enjoying this. Whether neither of them would admit it to each other or not.

 _"So, eh... you fairing well with your weapons?"_ Moxxi asked.

"Yes, I am. Thank you for asking. It's been a while since anyone has seen a laser, don't you think?" Rhys said.

 _"You'll definitely make some money off those. The last time was saw a laser was a few years ago. Don't know why production of them stopped,"_ Moxxi said.

"That is exactly what I look to correct. The only problem is the manufacturing process. I have to figure out how do build them. There aren't plans just lying around for me to study," Rhys said.

 _"You seem smart. You'll figure it out,"_ Moxxi said.

"There's only so much I can do without a base. I'm not a weapons designer," Rhys said.

 _"From Marcus told me about your weapon designs, he and I beg to differ. You seem to be good at it,"_ Moxxi said.

"From a conceptual standpoint. I can put them together and give them different abilities, but..."

 _"Sounds like a weapons designer to me,"_ Moxxi said idly. She unnecessarily looked at her fingernail as if she had proved the most solid point of all even though he couldn't see it herself. In her mind, it was necessary.

"'Ok, ok. I got your point. But on another note, how's things... there?" Rhys asked, not calling the place Sanctuary. It wasn't a sanctuary. Not for him at least. More like Hell.

 _"I'm ok. Can't complain,"_ Moxxi said, but Rhys knew better than that.

"I don't believe you," he said evenly. She raised an eyebrow. He had no problems calling out for a liar when he saw it. Well, in this case she wasn't necessarily lying.

 _"Well, I can't complain cause there's nothing that's really happening. After I had it out with Mordecai,"_ Moxxi said, a displeased grimace coming to her face upon remembering the man's words that day. They traded words that definitely hit home.

"You argued? What about?" Rhys asked.

 _"Do you have to ask?"_ Moxxi asked.

"Well, I don't have to cause it was none of my business..."

 _"Then you really don't know what we argued about,"_ Moxxi interrupted him in a flat tone.

"...yeah," Rhys said somewhat awkwardly. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Moxxi contemplated the idea. The idea that she argued for him might be a bit suggestive, but she didn't really care. Plus it'd be fun putting that little idea in his head, which made her smirk. On the other hand, he did have a very mature mind judging from how he normally handled things, how he spoke, and how well he handled all situations. Why not let him know that she was actually on his side?

 _"I don't mind. The argument was about you. You know, the way they acted while you were there. I called Mordecai out on his bull. I didn't even have to see it to know what was going on and who to believe,"_ Moxxi said.

Rhys smiled. So she was on his side. At least, in that aspect. He could tell she was being honest about it. That, or she was a really good liar. He hoped for the first one.

"Well, thank you. So he left you alone after that?" Rhys asked.

 _"He's been quiet period. I think I managed to hush him, but who knows how long that'll last before he gets angry at me and want to have another argument,"_ Moxxi said, putting a hand on her forehead at the exasperation of such a thing actually being possible with the irate man.

"My suggestion is avoid arguing with him period. He wants to argue, you go the other way," Rhys said.

 _"I'm not backing down,"_ Moxxi said firmly.

"You argue back, you're only encouraging him. Let him know that he's not worth a single second of your time. He may get the message that way. Cause I don't think having a daily argument is going to help you at all," Rhys explained.

 _"There's a little logic in that statement,"_ Moxxi said, a contemplating frown making its way across her face.

"Trust me. The more you argue about him, the more that you imply that you give a shit. Show him that you don't. It'll be like talking to a brick wall at that point, and hopefully he has intelligence that ranges above that of a doorknob and not bother. Then again, I don't have have that much faith as to how smart he is," Rhys explained in a dry tone, making Moxxi chuckle. Then she shook her head at the realization that Mordecai didn't show that much intelligence beyond battle strategy.

 _"You bring up a lot of good points, you know,"_ she said. Rhys sat down before putting his feet on his desk.

"It's both a blessing and a curse," he said in an amused tone.

 _"Ok, Mr. Blessing and Curse, what does the town look like?"_ Moxxi asked.

"Clean, I can tell you that much. Took a bit too. I've seen enough corpses of Crimson Lancemen and bandits to cover half of Sanctuary if you cleared all the buildings and such," Rhys said.

 _"I'm not surprised. Back then, Roland and the others had to wipe them out. The entire place was crawling with them. Not to mention that the Lancemen wiped out a bunch of bandits that they hired rather than pay them for doing a job they did for them,"_ Moxxi explained.

"So back then, the Lancemen were the Handsome Jack of this place," Rhys said.

 _"Pretty much. They killed a lot of people in their little cradle of power,"_ Moxxi said distastefully.

"No kidding. One of my uncles worked for Atlas at one point. They killed him for being insubordinate. We never actually got the details of what happened. My guess is that that was their way of telling him that he was fired. Or telling us that he quit," Rhys said idly.

 _"How do you do deal with that?"_ Moxxi asked.

"Easy. You don't think about it. Cause then it never happened. At least, that's how it supposed to be, right?" Rhys said with a hollow chuckle. "That's why I'm looking to change the name of Atlas. We're going to be a company that they were supposed to represent the first time. Power in the sense of nobility. Strength in the sense of honor. Rich in the sense of nobility. THAT is the way of a leader. A TRUE leader," Rhys explained, his words coming out in a sort of speaker's voice. Like he was saying this to a crowd.

 _"And you weren't Hyperion's spokesperson, why?"_ Moxxi questioned.

"Well, you killed him, didn't you?" Rhys questioned idly.

 _"Fair point, but you didn't know that,"_ Moxxi reminded. _"But that's not my point. You've definitely got a voice that speaks to the public. At least if what you're saying is honest. Trust me, people who weren't Hyperion loyalists didn't believe Hellquist as far as they could throw him."_

"Guy was a scumbag. And this is coming from a guy who talked to him before he became the spokesperson for Pandora. He was like Handsome Jack in a way, but only more toned down. Had the Hyperion arrogance down to the detail. A lot of us did, but people like him took the cake," Rhys said.

 _"And how often did you deal with people like this?"_ Moxxi asked.

"Every day before Jack died. Then it was every other day. It's a wonder my sanity isn't gone," Rhys said.

 _"Sanity is overrated. At least the psychos seem to think so,"_ Moxxi said.

"Yeah, well I'm not a psycho. Not yet anyway. I haven't gotten to the part where I scream about meat," Rhys said idly.

 _"It'll happen,"_ Moxxi said before starting to get a smirk on her face. _"So, eh... you got a few women you plan on having once you become a company leader."_

"Hmm. That's funny," Rhys said idly. Moxxi was a little disappointed that he didn't fall for the bait.

 _"What is?"_ she asked.

"That because I'll run a company, you'll think I'll have women on the side. That's funny to me," Rhys said flatly. The thing that bothered her was that there was no humor in his voice.

 _"Hey, I was kidding,"_ Moxxi said, frowning slightly at his serious tone of voice. Then Rhys smiled before bursting out laughing. Her small bit of worry quickly switched to irritation.

"Well, duh! To be honest, I can't believe you took me seriously given how obvious you were being," he said with humor in his voice. Moxxi pursued her lips. He actually fooled her with that. She couldn't have believe it herself.

 _"Well... shit,"_ Moxxi said, putting her head to the side when she realized that she had no proper comeback.

"Heh. Gotcha," Rhys said in an amused tone of voice.

 _"Don't make me change my mind about thinking about going down there,"_ Moxxi said. But she had a smile on her face that Rhys couldn't see while her voice was completely serious.

"Ok, I'm sorry. I just didn't expect that to work. Cause I out of all people know that you're smarter than you look," Rhys said with a smirk and a humored tone. This caused Moxxi to freeze and her eyes to go wide. How... how in the world did he find out?

 _"Wait, what?"_ Moxxi asked.

"You're talking to a person who has had to hide their true intelligence in certain situations. Some of those boys at Hyperion don't like it when someone far younger than them is smarter in pretty much every way. I recognized that analytical look in your eye when you looked over my inventions. Not to mention the tiny bit of anger I see when people undermine how smart you are. You learn to read body language after a while. Especially when it's something akin to your own. So you're certainly smarter than you claim to be. Why do you hide it?" Rhys asked her. Moxxi frowned for a bit. Few people knew that she was actually far intelligent than she let on. And now he was one of them. She had to make sure he kept it under wraps.

 _"Advantages. I have a philosophy. If you're ruthless, be fat. If you're smart, be sexy. They never think you have both. Marcus isn't the weight he is by accident,"_ Moxxi said with a smirk. _"I taught him that. The man is as ruthless as Handsome Jack himself in certain situations. His one true motive is money, but he has morals at the very least."_

"One, that's a pretty genius philosophy. Two, that's actually pretty awesome. I knew you had to be somewhat relentless to be an arms dealer, but it certainly runs deeper than you would think," Rhys said, having a look that showed he was impressed.

 _"I could teach you, you know,"_ Moxxi said with a smirk on her face. Time for some fun. Hopefully he wouldn't ruin the joke he did last time.

"Teach me what?" Rhys asked.

 _"How to be sexy. You know, you've got the looks down, but you only need a little..._ push." Moxxi said that last part with a bit of the seductiveness that she was known for.

"Um..." Rhys was at a lost for words now. He hadn't expected so much... well, _that._ "How exactly do you plan on doing that?" He was scared of asking the question as soon as he did.

 _"Oh, you know. A little of this, a little of that,"_ Moxxi said with the same seductiveness in her tone with a little carefree attitude as well.

"I... well... You're messing with me, aren't you?" Rhys said, finally managing to get his senses back. Moxxi smiled even wider.

 _"Took you long enough to figure that out,"_ she said with a grin. Then Rhys chuckled in a low, but deep tone.

"Ok, I deserve that," he said.

 _"But I was actually kind of serious,"_ Moxxi said. Now that made his eyes widen.

"Oh. So truly, what did you actually have in mind?" Rhys asked.

 _"Basically, kind of showing off what you have. That is, if you have buffed up more than the clothes you wear show,"_ Moxxi said.

"A little..." Rhys said in somewhat of a small voice. He was legit kind of scared about revealing anything to this woman. He had the feeling it would lead him into a situation that would leave him embarrassed for the rest of his life.

 _"Alright. I'll show you if and when I show up there,"_ Moxxi said before smirking widely. _"For now, I think I better stop before your face explodes."_

 _"Damn. She found me out,"_ Rhys thought, knowing the heat in his face was there not because of the temperature in the room. Then he decided to speak aloud. "You love doing this to people, don't you?"

 _"That's because it's so easy. Simply because I'm me. Takes a man with either a girlfriend, wife, or strong will to resist me. It's not even a brag. Trust me, I've been the test subject for that research,"_ Moxxi said.

"I don't doubt it. And you know you're good at it and that people will fall for it. So I'm assuming there's a little psychology knowledge under there, too?" Rhys questioned. Her smirk turned into a genuine grin.

 _"Maybe a little,"_ Moxxi said. _"As you seemed to have figured out, I've got a decent amount knowledge under my belt. And I haven't said it yet, but I am impressed."_

"About what?" Rhys asked.

 _"You've been around me for less time than anyone here, and you figured out that I'm smarter than I like. I don't know if that speaks a lot about you or them,"_ Moxxi said.

"I'd like to think it's because I'm really smart. But I think the amount of technology I brought in the place brought upon those little tiny giveaways that you showed. So in a way, me figuring it out was only because I'm better at reading people than them. Not necessarily a show of intelligence," Rhys explained.

 _"You know, you should really learn to take a compliment honey,"_ Moxxi said, shaking her head at how analytic this man really was.

"It's a habit to truly take a deeper look into these things. Kinda can't help it," Rhys said, having the decency to sound somewhat sheepish. But not too much. Cause she knew he was proud of the way he was.

 _"Well, at least you're comfortable with who you are. But who know? What I show you may change you just a little bit. Trust me. A little charm through sexiness never hurt anyone,"_ Moxxi said.

"The people I look to do business with might disagree with you," Rhys reminded her.

 _"So dress like you do now for the suits. Do what you gotta do. Just show people that you're sexy not smart. It makes them underestimate you. And underestimation leads to you being able to weed out the people who think they have a shot of overthrowing you. But they don't know that you're fully capable of planning ahead for such a thing,"_ Moxxi explained.

"I'm seeing that logic. Genius. As per usual, it seems," Rhys said with a smirk. Moxxi couldn't resist smirking as well. Well, at least there were some conversations she would enjoy.

* * *

"So you ran an Underdome before all of this?" Rhys asked.

 _"Yes. It was similar to a Roman Coliseum sort of thing. It takes a good bit to round up all the bandits, Lanceman, creatures, and things of the sort when you're running one, I can tell you that much. At least when you have skilled Vault Hunters going round after round on them,"_ Moxxi said.

"That sounds incredibly fun if you like killing. And profitable," Rhys said.

 _"Oh it was. Unfortunately, thanks to the Handsome Jackass himself, I had to stop. He tore down my Underdome,"_ Moxxi said, gripping her fist at the anger she felt at the time and that she still feels. The never of that asshole...

"Hmm. Because of your association with the Raiders, yeah?" Rhys asked.

 _"No, cause I used to date him,"_ Moxxi said, making Rhys fall out of his chair from the shock of that sentence. He didn't look like a trained assassin in that moment. He looked like a pure goofball. _"Sugar?"_

"One moment!" Rhys yelled, but it didn't sound that loud. She could tell that he fell out of his chair, which made her chuckle a little. She didn't think the shock would be that bad.

Rhys gathering his bearings and got himself up before grabbing the ECHO and speaking again.

"There we go," he said, smoothing his disheveled hair back out.

 _"Lemme guess, you fell out of your chair?"_ Moxxi asked, guessing the answer.

"Yeah. That's kind of shocking," Rhys said.

 _"Believe it or not, he wasn't always a jackass,"_ Moxxi said.

"Really?" Rhys questioned, the statement surprising him a little. He figured Jack was always like that.

 _"Really. But things change. And so do people,"_ Moxxi said, frowning a bit.

"Rhys! You still here?!" Gaige yelled into the room.

"Hold on Moxxi," Rhys said, laying the ECHO down before yelling. "Yeah, I'm in here!"

"Cut the business short for now! You wanna head out to Hollow Point or not?" Gaige asked.

"Yeah! Just give me a few!" Rhys yelled back before picking up the ECHO.

 _"Sounds like you have somewhere to be,"_ Moxxi said.

"Yeah, got something to take care of. By the way, I do need to contact Marcus you know. I can't be a conversationalist every second of the day," Rhys said.

 _"There are a lot of hours in a Pandoran day. Tell me when you're done with whatever you need to do, and I'll tell him to contact you,"_ Moxxi said.

"Thanks. I'll make sure to do that. Bye," Rhys said.

 _"Bye sugar,"_ Moxxi said before they both disconnected the call.

"Well, that was somewhat refreshing," Rhys said, putting his ECHO back on his belt before walking out of his office where Zer0 and Gaige were waiting.

"So I see you had a lot of business to take care of. You were still talking when we got back. It's been a few hours," Gaige said.

"A few hours?" Rhys questioned with raised eyebrows. "I've been talking that long?"

"Yeah. I hope you got a few deals ready to go," Gaige said.

"I was not talking with Marcus," Rhys said, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Oh. Then... who were you talking with?" Gaige asked.

"Moxxi," Rhys said. Gaige sighed.

"I swear to goodness, if you two were talking to each other like a bunch of horny teenagers..."

"Can you at least pretend that you know I'm better than that?" Rhys questioned, making Gaige laugh.

"I'm kidding. Besides, what the both of you talk about is in fact none of my business. Unless I was one of the subjects. I do want to know if you were talking about me behind my back," Gaige said.

"Well, Moxxi did happen to mention this one thing..."

"Let's head out to Hollow Point before I strangle you," Gaige said with a smirk on her face. Rhys' face lined with one that nearly split his face before he followed Gaige and Zer0 out of the door. He loved acting like the biggest fool sometimes.

* * *

"What do you mean they're not here?!" Rhys snarled, holding the man's arm to where it would break with a simple move of the arm while his face was pressed into the pavement.

"You know the Rhys that was joking and friendly just a few moments ago?" Gaige asked Zer0 while pointing to the man in question. "Where did he go?" Zer0 simply shrugged his shoulders in the most idle way possible. Personally, the assassin was very happy with the way Rhys was handling the situation. Tough and efficient.

"They aren't here! I told you!" the man said, his mouth somewhat scraped when Rhys forced him onto the ground hard.

"If you did something to them, so help me God..."

"No, no!" the man said in a panic, not wanting to irate the man more. His arm was on the brink of breaking and his face was somewhat scraped by how he got his face slammed on the pavement. He was afraid what would happen if he made him angrier. "They left on their own! I swear!"

"Where?!" Rhys asked with more insistence in his voice. Then a dark undertone overtook it. "I'm asking nicely."

"I don't know! They just packed up their stuff and left after some dude in a suit came down here to talk to them. I didn't seem since!" the man said.

"What dude in a suit?" Rhys asked, his voice calmer now while giving the man's arm some relief. But he still had his face on the pavement. The man would take it.

"I dunno. He was wearing this suit like there was a radiation leak or something. Had a mask on and everything. Was breathing like he was on life support," the man said.

"You have a picture?" Rhys asked.

"No. Afraid I don't. The man looked like he meant business. Was carrying one of the fanciest looking guns I've ever seen," the man said, making a shadow cross Rhys' face.

"Listen, you catch any trace of them, and you tell me immediately. If I catch wind that they were here, and you didn't tell me, only God will help you at that point," he said in a deadly serious tone.

"Of course. You'll be the first to know!" the man said nervously. "How should I contact you?" Rhys grabbed the man's ECHO and typed in a dummy ECHO signal. He would use it for this situation then throw it away once he didn't need it.

"Everything you need is through that contact. Tell me immediately if you see them," Rhys said.

"Of course," the man said quickly. Rhys then removed his pressure from the man's back before walking towards the other two.

"He didn't know anything?" Gaige asked.

"No. Some man who looked like he was suited up for a radiation leak came and picked up. He's someone we need to find. If he killed them, I swear to God..." Rhys said, tightening his fists in anger.

"They'll be fine. We'll find them. Now come on. There's still an Atlas base we need to check out for your other friend," Gaige said. Rhys nodded before walking off with the two Vault Hunters.


	13. Chapter 13 - A Visitor

"The primary thing I need for the guns is publicity. That's how we get the word out that Atlas is back," Rhys said as he was talking over the ECHO. "Yes, I've paid you plenty to put numerous amounts of guns in these vendors, and I've paid on time every time. Not only that, but you've made a decent amount of money from portions of the sales that people buy." While he was talking, Rhys didn't hear the door opening. Or at the very least, the people coming through it thought that.

"The record of sales that I get via my ECHO show me just how much people like my weapons. It's starting to take off," Rhys said, unable to stop the unconscious smile that came to his face when he said that. "Why thank you. I stuck to the original Atlas designs of a balanced weapon, but just a different look to them. Something more modern to appeal to people if they care about how the gun actually looks. I think it's a good plan to get weapons out there. But I want to sell to more than just Pandora. Pandora was just as a testing ground; to see if they thought my weapons were worth buying. Now that we know that they sell, we need to expand beyond Pandora. Can you make that happen?" Rhys smiled at his answer.

"Extra? Well, sales will increase for the both of us. The amount of planets depend on the percentage I offer. Three different galaxies? That's leading into thousands of planets. If I'm assuming that each of these planets have a use for weapons, then sales will be high. I offer ten," Rhys said before Marcus' answer made him raise an eyebrow. "Forty is a little too steep. You are still making money out of this. Our deal was for you to publicize the weapons. I offered to do so. Please don't take my kindness for weakness." Rhys was now frowning with a more of an edge to his voice.

"Ten percent then. Good. Across the galaxies you're selling to, we'll both make a lot of money off of this. Even with you going for the ten percent. Plus the money I'm offering you for the publicity, you'll have a nice amount of money by the end of the week. The longer I keep the deal up, the more money you'll be able to get out of this. And I'll have a known company that works directly from Pandora. It'll definitely get the word out. Pleasure doing business." Rhys then cut off the call. The man was a shark in the business industry, through and through. But Rhys knew exactly how deal with it. He knew when to negotiate, when to agree, and when to stand his ground. He could tell Marcus acknowledged it. And that's probably the deals go as smooth as they do. Respect from businessman to another. Now then...

"Any reason why you were listening in on my call?" Rhys asked, typing on the computer that was in front of him. He heard that door open. But he was more focused on his call at the time.

"And here was I thinking that you actually didn't hear me," Gaige said with a small pout.

"Oh, I heard you. I was just focused on my call at the time. What is it you need?" Rhys asked, looking away from his typing for a moment to look at Gaige.

"You have a visitor," Gaige said.

"A customer?" Rhys asked before giving her a serious look. "You did make sure to take precautions, didn't you?"

"Of course I did. And it's not a customer. Rather, it's just someone we know," Gaige said. Rhys nodded before turning to some paperwork and gesturing towards him with a pen in his hand.

"Bring em in," he said before writing down calculations of the profits on the pad. His fast mind was able to properly add together all of the money earned in one day and calculate how much they would make on average. Weekly, monthly, and yearly. Then he could calculate how long it would take for him to make grounds on an army, more staging grounds, etc. It would be more than likely the Raiders would try to stop them, but... Rhys couldn't help but smile. He would enjoy killing them all. Especially the so called "Hunter," or Mordecai. He'd slaughter them all with a grin on his face.

 _"You're way better at killing people than I am!"_ Jack's words echoed in his head. But it didn't off put him this time. At the very least, in his case, it was a good thing. Rhys knew he was following in the tyrant's footsteps so far, but he knew where he was going and it was NOT down that path. And that was enough for Rhys. It wouldn't hurt to actually use some of his methods. There were some things that he could get behind. The merciless rampage _where needed,_ strong army, and things of that nature. But he would know that there were people that were behind him; people he could trust. That alone made him ten times better than Jack.

"You've been busy sugar," a soft voice suddenly said in his ear. Rhys jumped and looked to the side. Then he shook his head at his visitor.

"Forgive me. Just got lost in my thoughts. Lot of things to handle the more known the company gets," Rhys said, putting the pen down and standing up to pop his back. Then he turned to face Moxxi more formally with a smile on his face. "I trust you've been well?"

"Somewhat. I see you're making some serious ground," Moxxi said, looking around Rhys' office. "Feels like I'm sitting in the office of a spy."

"I like having my tech," Rhys said, walking around her and hitting a button to the door that lead to his fridge. He then grabbed two lagers out before tossing one to her. "You got me addicted to these things, you know that? I drink at least two a day."

"Not my fault they taste good. It's less on the alcohol and more on the flavor. At least this batch is. The other batch I have is the complete opposite," Moxxi said, popping open the cap to her lager and taking a drink out of it. Rhys popped open his cap before raising his bottle. Moxxi smiled before they touched bottles and drunk at the same time.

"I confess myself curious about the alcohol batch though," Rhys said, smacking his lips from the flavor of the lager he was tasting. Again, he loved this batch. A curious smile came to Moxxi's face that was quickly replaced by a smirk.

"You think you could handle it sugar?" Moxxi asked.

"I can handle anything you can throw at me. I mean, I can last through a lot of things," Rhys said before innocently drinking out of his lager while Moxxi slowly lowered hers, looking at the man standing in front of her with an even look. Though her mind was very questioning. She knew an innuendo when she heard it. And that most certainly was one.

"I'm proud of how good that one was," Moxxi said. Rhys smirked.

"I thought you would. Given how you love listing off innuendos every two seconds when I was at Sanctuary," he said.

"That was more to mess with you than anything. I don't normally say them _that_ often," Moxxi said.

"Aw, I feel special now," Rhys said in somewhat of a sarcastic tone before taking another sip from his lager.

"I see you feel more comfortable around me," Moxxi said.

"That comes with having be responsible as you're trying to build a company from the ground up as well as having to slaughter the occasional bandit every now and again. Being shy isn't quite in my behavior as much as it was before," Rhys said before sitting down with his feet on his desk. Moxxi decided to pull up a chair right next to him and copy him. He had a gigantic desk, so there was enough room. But Rhys' eyes locked in place for a second when he saw that the sort old fashioned outfit that she was wearing hitched up when she copied his stance. But he immediately looked at her before shaking his head.

"You love mocking me, don't you?" Rhys asked, referring to her copying his stance of putting his feet up. Only, he wasn't wearing anything that was riding up and revealing smooth, flawless legs. Even considering the situation, Rhys couldn't resist mentally snorting at the idea of him having legs that even had one of those adjectives.

"I prefer to think I'm giving your relaxed posture a woman's touch," Moxxi said, taking a sip from the lager in her hand.

"If you wanna look at it that way," Rhys said before standing to his feet and putting his bottle in an incendiary bin after he drained the rest of it. "How's things been at Sanctuary?"

"Horribly uninteresting," Moxxi said, taking a sip from her lager.

"Nothing? Really?" Rhys asked, walking back over to his desk and putting some files back in his desk.

"Nope. After you left, things died down. Everything went back to normal. Which, now that I look at it, was never really that interesting. I mean, other when the Vault Hunters came to visit for a job or Gaige came down to talk," Moxxi said, deciding to put her feet down and stand up to go put her bottle in the bin after finishing it off.

"Wow. That doesn't sound very interesting," Rhys said.

"At the time, it was enough. Not anymore. You changed the game of what was enough," Moxxi said before smirking. "But hey. At the very least, you got yourself started on making a company, huh?"

"Yeah. Marcus seemed interested in what I had to offer. And for good reason. He's making a decent amount of money with the deal I'm offering him. Pay for the publicity plus a percentage of the sales we make. He'll make quite a good bit of money before we branch off. Every now and then, I'll send him a few weapons to sell for his own money out of good fortune," Rhys said.

"How kind of you," Moxxi said flatly. She knew the man had a tendency to be incredibly greedy. He might keep on trying to suck Rhys dry if he let him.

"Don't worry. There's a line that I've drawn," Rhys said, already taking her flat tone for what he knew it was. "He knows what the deal is, and he knows I'll pull it all back if he's not careful. But for now, I'll give him a gift now and again. One businessman to another."

"You're really looking to branch out? There's a lot of money to be made if you stick with Marcus marketing your weapons," Moxxi said.

"I know. But I want to see how well the company will do on sales once I have settlements set up galaxy-wide. I'm not selling just to Pandora. Pandora was just the testing grounds," Rhys said.

"So you're going galaxy-wide for this?" Moxxi asked, making Rhys nod. "Wow, you're shooting for something big, aren't you?"

"I always go big," Rhys said evenly. Moxxi raised an eyebrow. She didn't quite know if that was an innuendo or not. She just was going to assume it was.

"How big?" Moxxi asked.

"Enough to satisfy," Rhys said with the same even voice. But then his lips curved upward. Yup. He was definitely playing the innuendo game. Two could play at that.

"How about you show me just how big and satisfying?" Moxxi said, lowering the volume of her voice an octave while she took a suggestive pose. Rhys pursued his lips while trying to stop his face was turning red. Yup, he was not coming back after that. Once she realized that, her face took on a suggestive smirk.

"Don't say it," Rhys said, raising a hand.

"What? You did a good job. Usually no one _lasts_ that long," Moxxi said, only putting slight emphasis on the word. Slight, but Rhys caught it. And it was the subtle change that made a bigger impact. This woman was good at innuendo. Well, she should. She practiced like a religion half the time while he was there. He supposed it rubbed off on him a little bit. He just needed to be better at it.

"You're something else, you know that?" Rhys questioned.

"Don't I know it?" she said with a grin while placing a hand on the back of her head. "You're not so bad yourself."

"Me? I'm not the one who fires off innuendos every two seconds," Rhys reminded her.

"But I'm luring you into the prospect. Not to mention that you really are something else. The way you act is just... almost unheard of. You're too kind. Too understanding," Moxxi told him.

"On this planet, it pretty much doesn't exist," Rhys said.

"The one man who was like that died to Handsome Jack," Moxxi said, unable to keep eye contact as she tried to shake of the sadness that began to fill her gut.

"Roland?" Rhys asked, genuinely curious as he lowered his head to try and make eye contact with her. But the sadness in her eyes made him rethink his statement. But before he spoke, he saw Moxxi raise her head before taking a seat at the chair at the end of his desk before looking at him.

"Yeah. He was the original leader of the Crimson Raiders. And the best leader. Not only noble and brave, but fierce, loyal, and bloodthirsty when needed. But he knew how to inspire people as well as know what to do and what not to do," Moxxi explained.

"Sounded like he was great," Rhys said.

"He was," Gaige said, suddenly walking in the room. "Certainly much more pleasant than Lilith was. I mean, she got worse after Jack killed him, but Roland was definitely better." Gaige sat on one of the open areas on Rhys' desk while directly at him.

"I'm confident he would've accepted you into the fold. I mean, like Angel he would've had his doubts, but after a while, I think he would've accepted you," Gaige continued, causing a frown to come to Rhys' face.

"Jack's daughter, Angel?" he asked.

"How do you know about her? I think she was supposed to be kept a secret from everyone," Moxxi asked him. Rhys then looked at Gaige.

"She doesn't know?" he asked.

"Nope. Never thought it was the best idea to tell her your story. Not yet, at least," Gaige said.

"Your story?" Moxxi said, making Rhys smile and shake his head at remembrance of his story.

"Haven't you wondered how a low level Hyperion grease monkey even ended up on Pandora?" he said, his grin still in place. But it didn't quite meet the somewhat haunted look in his eyes.

"Somewhat," Moxxi said, having moments where she did want to know where he even came from. What are the chances he would ended up on Pandora after just working on that space station?

"Let me explain then. I hope you got time. It's definitely a long explanation," Rhys told her before grabbing a spare chair from one of his closets and sitting down to explain.

* * *

"In summary, you wanted revenge on the current Helios manager, went to Pandora to intercept a Vault Key that turned out to be fake, befriended the people who set it up to be fake and trick you, ended up with fucking Handsome Jack in your brain, and went on the wildest goose chase for the pieces for a Vault after that," Moxxi explained, ticking off her fingers.

"That about sums it up, yes. I tell you this much. The training and weaponry that I have now would be very useful in that case. Then I wouldn't have had to do the bidding of scummy bitches like Vallory. Instead I can just pop a couple of bullets into her treacherous skull," Rhys said darkly, gripping his human tightly. "Every time I think about it, it would've been something of a heavenly dream to stick my blade right in her throat and watch her choke on her own blood."

Gaige had expected the sudden change in Rhys' behavior when he got like that, but it was somewhat of a surprise for Moxxi. She had never quite known that Rhys had bloodthirsty urges in him. From the minor description of what happened to that one Raider when Rhys left, it didn't really tell her too much. Thanks Mordecai. Not really.

"Sounds hot," Moxxi said flatly. Rhys couldn't resist grinning and shaking his head at that. Leave it to Moxxi to break the tension with something that inherently simple.

"The blood probably won't be from such a cold-blooded bitch, but you know," Rhys said idly with a shrug of his shoulders. But then he smiled as he hopped up from his chair. "Hey! Let's change the subject to something that we can all come to a mutual understanding of. Guns!" Gaige and Moxxi's attention was immediately grabbed.

"You're definitely talking my language," Moxxi and Gaige said at the same time. The both of them laughed at their sync before Rhys pulled up a panel on his arm before unlocking a mechanical lock. His desk sunk into the ground before it was replaced by a number of containers that were holding some of his prototypes.

"I've been working on these weapons lately. I've heard that your weapons," Rhys said, pointing at Moxxi when he said that. "heal the user when you deal damage to the person. Scars heal themselves and such. I have not been able to duplicate this effect. Takes a certain genius to pull that off." His hint was subtle, but she easily caught it. You know what? Damn the clueless pair of boobs for now.

"Let me show you something. You have a biometric scanner somewhere?" Moxxi asked.

"Here," Rhys said, grabbing one off his desk. Gaige tilted her head at Moxxi. This was definitely interesting to her.

"People don't know it, but I do make my weapons myself. The biometric scanner keys to the person holding it, detecting their life status and number of injuries. To imitate the healing effect, I take the fluid of a healing hypo and line the inside of the gun core with it. The gun core takes in the effect of the hypo without it ever running out. Now, if you key the biometric scanner in with its effect, it'll heal you whenever it's necessary," Moxxi explained. "At least, this is the base effect for one of the snipers I made. The Chere-Amie. It does it's healing in the form of transfusion trails that you get off a kill with it."

Rhys looked at Moxxi with something of a slack jawed look. This woman didn't just know how to make weapons. She understood them. She knew what made them tick, she knew how to do it all. This was a different change of pace from all the innuendos, and Rhys loved this kind of conversation more. Then he managed to come back to his senses, but Gaige and Moxxi already caught his slack-jawed look and smiled.

"Surprised I know so much, sugar?" Moxxi asked.

"You understand weapons and how technology works. That's amazingly knowledgeable. That knowledge makes you ten times sexier," Rhys said honestly. Moxxi grinned widely while Gaige looked at Rhys with something of a surprised look. Has he gotten that comfortable around Moxxi? She didn't see a trace of red on his face.

"Knowledge makes me sexier?" Moxxi questioned.

"I can't speak for everyone, but it definitely does for me. You know a lot. Show me more," Rhys said, lowering his tone just an octave. Moxxi couldn't resist smirking. They were about to play this game again? She loved this game. But he seemed to have upgraded in just an hour.

"Hmm. There's a lot I can teach you sugar. I can tell you exactly where to touch, what to put where, what makes us _tick."_ She said the word with a sharp flick of her tongue with a grin that barely showed teeth, but it helped with the impact.

"That sounds delightful. But I have a pretty good idea of where to touch. After all, everybody and everything has their own little sweet spot. I have a pretty good idea where yours is," Rhys said with an innocent tone that definitely did not match the smirk on his face. Moxxi couldn't help but grin. He was getting better. She'd make a master of innuendo out of him yet.

As Moxxi and Rhys traded innuendo that would make even the stolid Maya blush if she heard it, Gaige couldn't help but just stand there awkwardly. It was a little... weird to say the least when you saw two people you're friends with trading sexual banter like it was just casual conversation. So she decided to walk out and possibly help Zer0 with some of his jobs. The two hadn't even noticed. Even they didn't know how long they were trading innuendos, but they didn't plan on stopping. Not until the other gave in. But by the looks of things, that was not happening anytime soon. Moxxi loved a challenge. So did Rhys.


	14. Chapter 14 - Joint Surprises

A/N: Forgive me for the rate of updates. I'm having Internet problems. They'll be really slow until I get it all sorted out. But here's this chapter for you all.

* * *

There was music blaring through the office to where there was barely any room for rational thought other than the music blaring. Of course, Rhys was a special case. He was fully able to put his laser together while his office was flooded with heavy metal. Rhys didn't quite have the look of someone who loved metal, but at the same time Moxxi didn't look like the type to be a mechanical genius. Given Zer0's body frame, he didn't look like the type to be able to wield a rocket launcher using one arm. But guess what? They could.

Then he could hear the sound of his music being toned down. Rhys looked up from putting together his laser and saw Moxxi leaning against his door frame. Rhys frowned slightly.

"I was listening to that," he said.

"It's not like I turned it off. Besides, I could hear 'I'm the vengeful one' blaring through every room," Moxxi said.

"With these walls, I doubt it would be 'blaring.' But if you feel that strongly about my music, I'll make the walls soundproof," Rhys told her.

"Is it really necessary to stereotypically blare your metal music?" Moxxi said.

"Definitely feels that much more authentic," Rhys said with a small smirk. Moxxi only waved a dismissive hand.

"Just keep it down. Working over some ideas," Moxxi said, making Rhys raise an eyebrow.

"For?" he questioned.

"Patience sugar. It makes the surprise all the more... satisfying," Moxxi said with a smirk in her voice. Rhys only shook his head before looking up with a small smile.

"Really? We're going to start now?" he asked.

"When have you ever known me to take a break from innuendo?" Moxxi questioned, mimicking his raised eyebrow.

"True. Call it a moment of weakness," Rhys said in an idle tone. Moxxi eyed his human arm that was revealed from the sleeveless shirt he was wearing. Nearly as thick as Roland's arms. Which for only a couple of years of physical training, was impressive.

"That tree trunk of an arm suggests otherwise," Moxxi said, pointing at his human arm.

"That behemoth in the Raiders has the tree trunk arm. Mine is more of a baseball bat," Rhys said.

"Little thicker than that," Moxxi said, grabbing it. Her hand barely wrapped around it. "Your metal arm does not match your human one now."

"I'll make an adjustment or two later. For now, I'll finish this laser," Rhys said, looking back down at the incomplete item in question. Moxxi smirked.

"You're trying to mimic the healing, aren't you?" she questioned. Rhys looked down in slight embarrassment before looking up with a coy grin.

"Found me out darling. But I feel like I may have a chance of getting it right," he said.

"Darling?" Moxxi questioned.

"Equivalent of your use of 'sugar.' You've got me into more and more of your habits. First innuendo, now idle nicknames that some people use in romantic relationships. Why I picked up the second one, I have no idea," Rhys questioned more to himself than anything.

"Maybe I'm just that influential sugar. After all, I _am_ the perfect role model," Moxxi said, making Rhys snort before she barely finished. She only grinned in response.

"Role model is one of the last things you are," he said.

"One?" Moxxi questioned.

"The list goes on and on. We'll be here all day," Rhys said, going back to the assembling of his laser. He then grabbed the healing hypo while making a soft "hmm" sound with his mouth in thought. Moxxi tilted her head at him. There was something... interesting about watching him think. The slight frown, the creases on his forehead. Not to mention the analytical look swimming in his eyes.

"You're staring," Rhys said.

"It's interesting to watch you think," Moxxi said.

"Interesting how?" Rhys asked.

"You ever looked in the mirror when you're thinking? Your eyes are swimming with that analytical look. Quite a thing to look at. Gaige'll tell you the same thing," Moxxi said.

"Is it really that interesting?" Rhys asked.

"To us, at the very least," Moxxi said with a shrug. Rhys smiled before standing to his feet.

"Come here. I got something to show you. Two things actually," he said, grabbing his jacket and putting it on.

"What is it?" Moxxi asked, making Rhys smile and waggle a finger at her.

"Ah ah ah. It'll spoil the surprise. I promise it'll be satisfying," Rhys said with a warm smile. Well, at the very least, he had gotten her interested in what he had to offer.

Rhys lead Moxxi out of the Atlas building and down to town. There were a number of workers that Rhys waved over. One by one. Rhys handed each of them money. A fair amount, Moxxi noticed.

"Thank you for your help on this project. I hope to work with you again on other projects. You can leave now if you wish," Rhys told them. They nodded and pocketed the money before heading towards the city limits. Once they were far enough, before Moxxi could speak, Rhys pulled up an audio player. The source being the ECHO of one of the workers.

"You think the Raiders'll be interested to know that Atlas is rebuilding?" one of the workers asked, causing Rhys to stiffen. Moxxi knew that he was ready to shoot some people if they said yes.

"Probably, but I haven't seen money like this since Dahl. And even then, this is more. Lot of profitable work here. Besides, I kinda like the guy. No one I know every greets grunts like us with a, 'Welcome. I'm glad to have you here,'" the second worker explained, making Rhys relax. Moxxi knew that the way he treated people would pay off. "When was the last time you've seen someone treat grunts like us with that kind of respect?"

"There was no last time," the first worker said.

"Same," the rest of the workers said in synchronization.

"So we're keeping our mouths shut for the good work and respect?" the first worker said. There was silence, so it seemed like they nodded or shook their heads instead of speaking. "Good. Let's make our leave then. Before he catches us and suspects us of mutiny." Rhys cut off the call right there before pulling out some keys.

"Now that that's done, follow me," he said, gesturing for Moxxi to follow him.

"With all of the suspense I'm feeling, this better be a good surprise," she said.

"It is. I've been spending a good amount of money these past few months. A little rewarding, if you will. I asked Gaige she wanted. She said a lab/design station along with my designs for my arm. I gave her that. Zer0 told me a sniper rifle," Rhys explained, pulling up designs for the sniper in question. "He's the first person to try out this prototype for Zeus' Rage. When the bullet makes contact with bone, it explodes with electricity and spreads all throughout the inside of the target's body, shutting down their primary systems. Perfect for targets that have such ungodly thick skulls that allow them to take headshots."

"Impressive. But why didn't you ask me what I wanted?" Moxxi asked.

"Because I already know what you want," Rhys said with his best attempt at a seductive tone. Ok, but not as good as it could've been. Then Rhys shook his head.

"God, I've been around you too much. I'm definitely not used to talking like that. Alright, look up."

Moxxi did just that and saw a neon sign. The glow wasn't very distinctive in the daylight, but she could still see there name splattered in purple.

"You built me another bar?" Moxxi questioned.

"I paid Maya to ship all of your booze to the Overlook bounty board before I brought here. I even paid for a little extra out of my own pockets. I kept the design the same as the one in Sanctuary, but I added a few extra things. Come see the inside," Rhys said, bowing in a mock fashion. Moxxi rolled her eyes. "After you."

"You should really learn to act normal," she said, causing Rhys to laugh.

"And on Pandora, normal is what exactly?" he asked.

"You know. Bloodthirsty attitude. Have all social ineractions with a gun as the mediator. Politeness just doesn't work," Moxxi said, walking inside.

"How bout I just shoot you in your boobs? They'll either pop or the bullets'll bounce back and hit ne. Either outcome is tragic," Rhys said, making Moxxi laugh before she elbowed him in the gut. His gut barely moved a centimeter.

"I almost forgot you had godly abs," Moxxi said, poking him in his stomach before taking a look around. "Well, you weren't kidding when you said it looks like my bar in Sanctuary. Just bigger."

"Bigger is better darling," Rhys said before smiling. "This is the best part. Come on behind the bar."

Rhys hit a button underneath the desk once she was next to him, and a passageway was revealed under the floor. Moxxi glanced at it, then back at Rhys.

"A shock sniper called Zeus' Rage, and now secret passageways. It's confirmed. You are a nerd," she said, only making him grin wider.

"And proud of it darling. C'mon," Rhys said, jumping down without using the the ladder. Moxxi decided to be safe and actually climb down. She wasn't doing anything like that in heels. Then she felt a blue beam cover her body.

"Biometric scanner," Rhys said without even turning. "Place locks down when anyone who isn't you or me tries to get in here."

"Alright, I'll bite. What's down here?" Moxxi asked. Rhys simply turned the handle to the door and presented the inside to her. She had to stop her jaw from dropping. She did not want to look like a slack jawed fool.

"I get my own lab too?" Moxxi questioned. It was like a blast from the blast when she thought about her bar that was up on Elpis. Those were the days. When things were far more peaceful. Well, about as peaceful as a Pandora native could get.

"You too. The minor security is to suit your desire for preventing anyone from discovering that there's a brain above those boobs of yours," Rhys said, playfully poking her forehead.

"Nice. I tell you, these are two pretty good surprises. I'm impressed," Moxxi said, continuing to take another look around. Rhys smiled before shaking his head.

"Not two things. One. This is a joint surprise. It all comes together. There's another thing I'm looking to give you," Rhys said, making Moxxi freeze in surprise.

"Are you telling me..." she said, a dramatic pause in her words. "...that this isn't it?"

"Nope. The bar was mainly for my want for those drinks you make. The lab was a bonus. This is the main thing," Rhys said, pulling up an image via his ECHO arm. "See that?"

"It looks like an arena. What-" Moxxi's eyes widened in shock as Rhys pulled out another set of keys. He was not giving her what she thought he was. "You did not. _Tell me_ you are not giving me what I think you are."

"Ok. Then I'll give this arena to someone else who has a desire to run an Underdome. I'm sure I'll be able to get more than what I paid for it if I play my cards right. It'll be easier if the buyer is female," Rhys said, rolling back his sleeves. He gave off the aura and image of a cunning businessman.

"And you said it anyway. Why... just..." Rhys put a metal finger over her lips to quiet her, and she found herself going along with it.

What went on in this man's mind that made him do things like that? That was the number one thing on her list that she wanted, and he gave it to her. She wasn't even dating him! Hell, _husbands_ didn't do anything like this for her. Granted, one was Mr. Shank, another one being Marcus, and the third... she wasn't even going to talk about him. Then again, none of them were leaders of a company that was getting richer and richer as well as more powerful every day.

"I did it because I wanted to. Same answer I gave Gaige. Zer0 didn't really ask any quetsions, which makes things a lot easier to be honest," Rhys said before showing her other images. "I've got most of the stuff set up already. Bandits. Creatures. Stuff like that. All you gotta do is to get some people to film it. Won't be hard for you. I know the Underdome was pretty popular in its own right. Once people learn it's coming back, getting people to film it will be easy for you. Most likely cheaply or maybe even free."

"You are something else. How much did this all cost?" Moxxi asked, making Rhys blow out a puff of breath.

"Well, it's no surprise that the women have the most expensive stuff. Zer0's sniper only cost a couple of thousand to design. Your lab cost half a million. I made Gaige's lab substantially better than yours, so hers cost a million. To put the Underdome together, the construction was only a couple of hundred thousand to put such a gigantic structure together. There's also the promise of prize money for the people that beat the waves. The capturing, shipping, and in the bandits' case, paying to get them down here and try and kill whoever hops in the arena cost me nothing short of three," Rhys explained, pausing on purpose for the effect. He figured he may as well make her play along with with his little game. He _did_ put money on the line for this. Money that could've gone towards the company for military, research, and other things. He was a nice person, but he was getting _something_ out of this.

"Three what?" Moxxi asked, somewhat hesitant about he was about to say

"Million," Rhys said simply. Moxxi held up a hand.

"Give me a moment," she said, standing up and pacing around the lab.

This wasn't the first time she recieved a an expensive gift, far from it. But it was a gift that was like a hundred here. A thousand there. Maybe ten thousand if they felt generous. All give by men (and sometimes women) that were looking to impress her. Maybe even in hopes of trying to have sex. Depending on the person, it worked. But he wasn't looking to have sex. He wasn't looking to impress her. No, this was him being _nice._

One thing was for sure, he sure as hell impressed her. As for the sex part... she wouldn't mind training him a little. With a little practice, a couple of... sessions, and a little patience, she could turn him into a natural. Whew. Now she was a little hot and bothered, which didn't happen often. No, forget often. It didn't happen at all.

"All together, this cost four million, right?" Moxxi asked.

"Just about," Rhys said in a voice of confirmation.

"What do you want?" Moxxi asked, knowing no one in this world would spend four million on someone without wanting at least one thing in return.

"Three things," Rhys said.

 _"I knew it,"_ Moxxi thought before speaking aloud. "What are they?"

"One. Any drink that I order is free," Rhys said, using his fingers to tick them off.

 _"That isn't much considering he paid for the upfront costs_ ," Moxxi thought before nodding. "Alright. What else?"

"Two, when I come down to the Underdome, I can compete without an upfront cost as well as do color commentary along side you. I may not be able to handle a crowd quite like you can, but I can certain say things that may... appeal to the masses. If not, too damn bad," Rhys told her.

He wasn't taking no for an answer on these demands. That's what they were. Demands. Not requets. Hell, he spent four million on her. He could demand all he wanted. Besides, she wouldn't deny it would be a little fun having him next to her doing commentary. Enough innuendo to make murderers turn bright red and he could add a little more violent edge to things. They'd work it out.

"Of course. That actually sounds like it would be fun," Moxxi said with a genuine smile. The gesture surprised Rhys mildly, thinking she would rather do the commentary alone, but he quickly recovered.

"And the last thing..." Rhys said in a seductive tone that was far better than his last attempt. Moxxi raised an eyebrow. Was this him going for what she thought he was going for what she thought he was going to ask of her in the first place? If it was, she wouldn't mind at all. Not.. at... all. But she'd play it cool for now.

Rhys strode up to her with a confident air and put his hand around her neck before pulling her closer. Moxxi thought he was about to kiss her.

"You can show me those designs for your healing weapons," he said, backing up with a smirk as his hand purposefully grazed the side of her face. Being mad didn't even cross her mind. Instead she smiled.

"Well done. Well done. You actually had me there," Moxxi said, making Rhys give off an extravagant bow.

"Thank you very much. I learned from the best and dirtiest," he said, making Moxxi smirk. But then it was wiped and replaced with a more hesitant look.

"But seriously though, that's all you want?" she asked.

"Yup. That's all I want. If I want anything else, I'll let you know," Rhys said, looking at her up and down with a suggestive look before waving his arms around the lab. "Enjoy your surprises. Wait, one more thing."

"Yeah?" Moxxi asked.

"Music. I wanna be able to play a song of my own choosing when I want considering there's an ECHO music player in your bar. I promise it won't all be deafening death metal," Rhys said with a grin.

"Give me an example," Moxxi said.

"You want my love and you can't deny," Rhys said smoothly. Moxxi pointed at him and he only smiled wider. "You know it's true and you try to hide."

"You pick more songs like that, and I definitely won't mind that. Also, not half bad on the vocals," Moxxi said.

"Thanks. I enjoy those older songs more than the newer ones anyway," Rhys said before heading back up the ladder. Moxxi couldn't help but smile as she watched him head back up. Acts like this only made you wonder what was the real punishment of the Raiders mistreating him. The brutality that was coming their way if they continued to mess with him even after they parted ways or them missing out on kindness like this. It was quite a marvel to witness.

When she got to the top, he lifted her up with one hand before handing her both pairs of keys to her revealed surprises with a smile on his face.

"Remember our deal. And we can start on those healing weapons tomorrow," Rhys said, snatching the keys back quickly while looking at her with an expectant look. Moxxi rolled her eyes.

"I'll show you tomorrow. You don't have to threaten me with the loss of these gifts. At one point, I was gonna show you how to pull em off. There was more than likely going to be a price for the secret, but the fact that I'm even offering it all all says it all," she said, making Rhys smile. He then handed her the keys back.

"Just checking. Now, I have work to do. Enjoy yourself," he said, walking out of the bar while pulling up some plans on his ECHO arm. Moxxi held the keys in her hand with her eyes on the man walking away. If more people on Pandora were like him, this place wouldn't be the glorified shit stain of chaos that it is now. Then again, you can never have too much of a good thing. At least people say that. Moxxi sure in the hell wanted to find out how that was possible.

Then she smiled as she traced a hand across her bar table. She was back in the Underdome game. Her time for the limelight was here again. The thing she wanted the most was about to become a reality again. She didn't have an idea as to when she was going to start yet, but she was sure of a couple of things. She wanted Zer0 and Gaige fighting at the bottom fighting wave after wave of enemies while she and Rhys kept the crowds entertained. It would be fun. Not to mention profitable for everyone.

"Hyperion did not deserve someone like this," Moxxi said aloud, knowing someone this kind to his friends did not deserve to be working for a scummy and life sucking corporation. He deserved to be running one. And he was. It wouldn't take too much longer before Atlas became world renowned again. She would put money on that.

"Isn't that the truth?" Gaige said with a smile, walking into the bar. Then she looked around with a satisfied look on her face. "Wow. So I assume Rhys gave you your surprises?"

"You knew?" Moxxi asked.

"Not what they were. I just knew that he had surprises for all of us. Zer0's been spending bullet after bullet on jobs using that new sniper rifle Rhys gave him. I've been working in my lab all this time," Gaige said with a grin that nearly split her face. "I can't believe he spent a million dollars on me for that lab."

Moxxi noticed that Gaige's lab cost twice what hers did, but given what she saw in her lab, Gaige's was sure to be a genius' wet dream. I guess Rhys wanted to make what she wanted really worth it. This wasn't just about her. It was for everyone. And Moxxi mostly cared about the Underdome. Which Rhys more than likely knew. He was too smart for his own good.

"I can't believe he bought me an arena. With everything set up for me to start my Underdome again," Moxxi said with a grin. "That I'm still processing."

"I know for a fact that wasn't cheap. But it was what you wanted the most, so Rhys gave it to you," Gaige said. "It's funny. I used to think that you'd use Torgue's arena to get back into the game."

"I think I'll sell that. It'll fetch a few million for any buyers if I play my cards and sell the publicity it had right. I'll pass that on to Rhys as a way to pay him back. Not to mention I'll give Atlas a little more publicity through advertisements and things of the sort. He deserves it," Moxxi said with a smile.

"Wow. If you told me that Moxxi would be giving someone a couple of million dollars, I'd call you crazy," Gaige said with a smirk.

"That's because I've never met anyone like Rhys. None of us have. All we know is Pandora and the cruel people on it. We don't know anyone this kind," Moxxi said, gesturing towards the exit Rhys left out of.

"Very true. When do you suppose he'll start dating?" Gaige questioned. Moxxi paused for a split second before smiling at Gaige, the girl in question blushing a tad bit.

"What, you like him?" Moxxi said with a wide grin. "Come on, I won't tell."

"Maybe a little," Gaige admitted, her face red. "If you're wondering, no it's not just cause of the lab he bought me. He's just... kind. That's the main thing that I like. That he's nice in a way that you don't find on Pandora. It's one I didn't even found on my home planet."

"Hey, you can't pick a better guy to crush on in my opinion. Better than Axton. Or Mordecai," Moxxi said with a slight bit of disgust in her tone.

"Believe me, I know that," Gaige said, her mood souring somewhat at the thought of the rarely sober man. Acton was alright, but way too much of a man whore. Guess that's what he was doing before he got married.

"Oh, poor Rhys. He's going to have more women coming after him than he can handle," Moxxi said, making Gaige look at her strangely. "Oh, come on. Once he starts letting people into this city, the women will swoon over him. I taught him well. Whether or not he wants them is up to him."

"What about you?" Gaige asked Moxxi, causing her to raise an eyebrow. "Please don't pretend that I'm not noticing. You lay on a little more innuendo than you do with anyone else. Not to mention that innuendo borders more on flirting at the best of times."

"Wow. So you caught me?" Moxxi questioned with a smile.

"I've been around you long enough to know how you work. At least a little bit," Gaige said.

"So what? Are you we going to make this something out of a TV show? Have you threaten for me to stay away from 'your man' or I'll regret it? End up fighting over him at one point?" Moxxi said with a smirk.

"No. Nothing like that. It all depends on who he goes for," Gaige said.

"On who goes for what?" Rhys said, walking into the bar. "You talking about me?"

"Discussing an idea. In case you plan on merging with any other companies. I said Dahl because it's the company that Hyperion hates the most now," Moxxi said smoothly.

"Definitely not Dahl. I hate them for a reason beyond Hyperion. They're the reason I even need cybernetics in the first place. These were _not_ a life choice," Rhys said grimly.

"You never told us that," Gaige said.

"Yeah, well... it wasn't relevant at the time. One of those Lost Legion assholes stuck a nail into my eye and dug it around," Rhys said, moving his finger in a swirling motion. "As for the arm, it couldn't be saved after the Sergeant of the group cut it off with his sword. Wanna know the craziest thing though? I was saved by a Claptrap unit."

"A..." Moxxi looked at Gaige, who had the same look of bewilderment on her face. "Was this Claptrap yellow with an eye that had a type of greenish tint?"

"That's it. Was surprisingly good with a gun, I must say," Rhys said as an afterthought. "What, you know of it?"

"He resides in Sanctuary. Well, he did until he took some vacation somewhere in Aegrus. He went once before, but I guess he liked it so much, he went again," Gaige told him, making Rhys give off a puzzled look.

"Huh. Shame. I would've thanked him for saving my life," he said idly. Gaige decided to leave it be. He had no idea what would happen if Rhys met Claptrap. He might've lost his mind on the little robot if he decided to call him minion after Rhys mentioned he saved his life. He wanted to thank him, but Gaige knew he wouldn't be reduced to something that he was back at Hyperion all over again.

"Anyway, what are you doing here?" Moxxi asked. Rhys shook his head and got back to the matter at hand.

"Oh. I just came over here for a couple of drinks," Rhys said.

"Lemme guess? The usual?" Moxxi questioned, ducking down for some bottles.

"Is there any other usual?" Rhys asked rhetorically. She pulled out three bottles and tossed them his way. He smiled and tipped an imaginary hat before grabbing the bottles and walking out.

"He seems cheery," Moxxi noticed.

"Probably because of the gifts he gave us. I know I let him know how overjoyed I was to get my hands on that lab," Gaige said.

"Huh. Just so you know, if he goes for me, I could tell him that I don't mind sharing ," Moxxi said with a wink in Gaige's direction.

"I'm not the sharing type," she said with a pointed look.

"Hmm. If you think you find someone as good as him, you have my blessing to try. You could settle for less, but I wouldn't suggest that. One thing is for sure. I want him. I'll work him over when I find the time. I meant what I said about not minding sharing," Moxxi said, holding a bottle in her hand. "Think it over. In the meanwhile, I can let safely let my inner genius loose." Then Moxxi hit the button under the bar table and climbed down into her lab before the trap door shut closed.

"'Think it over.' I damn myself for actually having to think it over," Gaige said, walking out of the bar.

* * *

Rhys typed on his computer at a fast rate. His computer beeped in a negative fashion, causing him to frown.

"That's excellent. Somehow the terminal is still active," he said, leaning back in his chair and blowing out a puff of breath. He sighed before getting on the ECHO for a call with Gaige.

 _"You need something?"_ Gaige questioned over the ECHO.

"You could say that. Do me a favor and get Zer0. I have a job to do. I wouldn't mind having you two there with me to do it," Rhys said.

 _"What's the job?"_ Gaige asked.

"I had plans to take over the Hyperion satelites, but somehow the terminal that's still securing them is still active," Rhys told her. "Now, I could hack them, but..."

 _"It would take just as long to do this and possibly more profitable,"_ Gaige finished, making Rhys smile.

"Genius, as ever. You are correct," he told her.

 _"I'll get him. Where we heading?"_ Gaige asked as Rhys got to his feet and threw his jacket on. He liked having a hood up. Made him look more mysterious. He had to look the part of Zer0's apprentice in some fashion.

"The remains of the Helios space station," he said, walking out of his office.

* * *

A/N: And... cut! lol. I had to make this chapter somewhat meat filled cause you've all been waiting a good amount of time. Getting updates out is going to be a lot harder, but imma try to still get em out. When I get my own damn internet back, I'll let you know.


	15. Chapter 15 - Old Acquaintances

A/N: Finally got internet back. Christ, felt like forever. But eh. I'm back. That's all that matters.

* * *

"See anyone?" Gaige asked Rhys, who was surveying the area with his ECHO eye. The thermal function he installed on it was definitely coming into use here.

"Couple of dozen people inside. Most of them aren't armed, surprisingly. Then again, if they have ECHOs on them, that can easily change," Rhys said, his eye roaming the entire base. "Most are at stations with some on lookout. One way to get inside; multiple eyes on that spot."

"You reckon we oughta go in violently then?" Gaige asked as Rhys hopped down from his vantage point without his legs faltering.

"No. Place is likely just held up with a bunch of harmless Hyperion workers. If we go up the sides there..." Rhys said, pointing to the broken lines on the left and right that helped form the H shaped space station. "...while cloaked, we can get in through the glass ceiling. Well, it's the best description for what it is now." Zer0 nodded in satsifaction of the plan.

"Sounds good. But there's only one problem. I don't have any way to turn invisible," Gaige reminded him.

"Don't worry about that," Rhys said, handing her a shield. "It's one of those Hyperion Spy shields. I thought they'd come in handy at one point. I was right."

"Yeah, it'll do for now," Gaige said, putting on the shield and her body cloaking almost immediately.

"Now, those shields don't have perfect invisibility, so there's a chance that they'll see you when you're moving. If they give any indication that they saw us, I'll stop, wait a few seconds, then once they take their sights off of us, I'll move," Rhys told her.

"Sounds good to me," Gaige said.

"Stealth!/Ghosting!" Rhys and Zer0 said at the same time, both of them going invisible immediately. Gaige still found herself still amazed by the way these two worked. In the field, they were like two halves of the same pair; synchronized in mind and body. Master and apprentice in action. Something Rhys told her numerous times.

"Move at a level pace. Stay close," Rhys told her in a low tone while grabbing her hand to lead her considering she couldn't see him. Even considering his reasons, Gaige still went a little red.

They moved past the men and women that were keeping lookout in a type of crouched walk. At one point, Rhys froze where he stood, so Gaige followed his lead. She didn't move a single muscle.

"Hey Tess?" one of the Hyperion workers asked the woman that was next to him.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"You see anything out there? I can't tell," the man asked, rubbing his eyes furiously.

"No. I think you've been out here too long. Get on inside," Tess told him. He nodded and hopped down, took one last look at the spot he thought he saw something before continuing inside.

"Move," Rhys said, immediately starting to walk again. Gaige knew for a fact that this wasn't the fastest Rhys could go. After all, he was trained by Zer0. He was moving at this pace so they could move fairly fast, but not tire her out. That made her smile.

Once they reached the glass, Zer0 was already waiting for the two as Rhys got on one side and Gaige on the other. No one broke cloaking as Rhys moved closer to the glass so that he could get a better idea of what was going on inside. There was silence. Not to mention he couldn't see anything. Not even blurs signaling a presence. It would be a little difficult to see considering the glass was cracked, but Rhys had good eyesight.

To double check, he cut the thermal option for his eye back on again. Nothing. So he stuck his blade around the sides and cut the panel loose before grabbing it and laying it to the side. Rhys then jumped down with Zer0 and Gaige landing next to him.

"There's the terminal," Rhys said, pointing at the terminal in question as they all uncloaked. Gaige drew one of her SMGs and Zer0 decided on an assault rifle. Rhys kept a pistol in his human hand as he walked over to the terminal and pulled up his hacking program on his ECHO arm. Placing the pistol next to the keyboard, Rhys typed with one hand to bring up the control of the satellites.

"I should be connected shortly..." Rhys trailed as he continued to type.

"Take your time. In fact, I want an excuse to shoot someone," Gaige said. Rhys grinned and shook his head before his hacking program connected. There was a bar on the time it would take for the encryption to break through. At the rate it was moving, it would take it less than two minutes. He kept the program up as he walked around with his pistol in hand, eyes on the decryption progress.

"How long is that going to take?" Gaige asked.

"Less than two minutes. Won't be long. We'll make our leave back through the skylight and sneak back. Though I'll need destroy that terminal so they don't reboot the system's encryption. These are old Hyperion workers, so one of them is bound to know how to get it back online. If they weren't Hyperion workers, I could just rip the wires out," Rhys explained.

"Wouldn't it be easier to just slaughter them and make use of everything in here?" Gaige asked.

"I suppose. But I don't want anything to do with this base. Not anymore. They can have it," Rhys said, looking around the place.

"Make a bomb and we'll blow it to kingdom come when you feel like it," Gaige said, making Rhys laugh softly.

"If I ever get the urge, I'll let you know. Then again-"

"Stop it Moxxi," Gaige said, knowing exactly where Rhys was going with that. He held back the exploding laugh that was about to burst through his lips and opted for watching the download instead.

At one point, Rhys snapped his head around when he heard gunshots. Judging from the tense position she was in, Gaige fired a couple of shots from her SMG near the entrance.

"We must've had a visitor," Rhys said idly.

"What gave it away?" Gaige said dryly before her tone got more serious. "Think anyone heard that?" Rhys cut on his ECHO eye and gave the place a good look over before shaking his head.

"Nah, there's no scrambled or speedy movement. These walls must be thicker than they look," he said, going back to watching the download.

* * *

"This mercenary work is pretty fun. Forget the con woman shit," Sasha said making Fiona laugh.

"As ladylike as ever sis," she said, putting an arm around her sister's shoulder. "Where we looking like on the money?"

"Nearing a million in savings plus the money that we keep in our ECHOs. Pretty good amount," Fiona said, entering a room. Then she saw Athena and Janey in a room kissing. Sasha couldn't resist smirking as Fiona knocked to alert them of their presence.

"Almost two years of being newlyweds, and you haven't kept your hands off each other behind closed doors," she said.

"Two years?" Janey questioned, straightening her clothes as she stood to her feet while Athena did the same. "In marriage, that's nothing. We're still in the honeymoon phase."

"It's something I'm not going to forget any time soon," Athena said, wrapping her hand in Janey's. This woman seemed to be the only one that could get Athena, the hardened ex-Atlas assassin to turn into a big ball of mush. You never associated those two things.

"And neither am I dear," Janey said with a smile on her face.

"Uh, guys?" Vaughn asked, his face white. Everyone looked at him in a concerned fashion considering how scared he looked. Almost like he saw a ghost.

"What's wrong?" Fiona asked with a concerned tone.

"Well, I tried to walk into the main command center to check on some of the systems. I nearly got my face blown off!" Vaughn exclaimed. Athena's face immediately hardened. As well as Fiona's and Sasha's. Athena grabbed her shield while Fiona and Sasha drew guns before running towards the command center.

Athena took cover on one side while Sasha and Fiona took another. Athena gestured her head towards the doorway, and the two sisters nodded before moving into the room. They immediately looked around the room to see that two guns were pointed at her. Guns in the hands of two Vault Hunters. Vault Hunters that killed Handsome Jack. That made the ball in her stomach drop a little.

"That's far enough," a deep voice said, his back turned to them. From the back at least, he didn't look like much. But Fiona noticed that one of his hands was human, the other a shiny silver.

"Who are you?" Fiona asked, clicking her gun.

"Watch it sister," Gaige said, raising her gun higher with a look akin to something of minor anger making its way onto her face. "You're talking to the leader of Atlas here. And my best friend."

"Wait one second. I know that voice," Rhys said, turning around to face the Pandorans. Two jaws dropped in shock at the person who was standing there. His face was slightly more defined as well as scarred, and his mechanical eye was yellow instead of blue. The image of a gun in his hand like he had held one since the beginning of time was also somewhat out of place, but they knew who that was.

"R-R-Rhys?" Sasha said, seemingly unable to get her words out. The man in question smiled before gesturing for Zer0 and Gaige to lower their guns.

"Yeah, it's me. Fucked in the head a little more than when you last met me, but it's me," Rhys said while pressing two fingers against the side of his skull, causing Fiona to look at him in a peculiar way.

"You sure you're Rhys? This look doesn't match you at all," she said.

"Are you sure you're Fiona?" Rhys questioned with a raised brow. "Because the Fiona I know wouldn't go a damn day without that fucking hat on her head. And I know you got another one. Makes you look like you're still stuck in the nineteen eighties."

"I just got off a job, and that's a good style of a hat!" Fiona exclaimed defensively.

"Uh huh. Sure made you look sexy enough, I must say," Rhys said, looking at her up and down with a suggestive look before looking back at his arm. Fiona opened her mouth and her face turned a bright red. The way Rhys looked at her was just... out of place. She had to admit. It was certainly attractive.

"I am... connected to the satellites. Now I just need to..." Rhys then forced his hand through the console and ripped out a couple of wires. "Don't worry. It won't hurt anything else. Just need that little tidbit disabled so I can do what I need to do."

"What are you doing?" Sasha asked him.

"One second darling. Be with you in a second," Rhys said idly. Sasha looked at Rhys strangely. He definitely looked and acted different, and that was an understatement. It was hard to associate the eccentric and sometimes awkward Hyperion with the person she was standing in front of right now.

Rhys then set the satellites to scan Pandora. Control over Hyperion's satellites would be useful for some projects he had been thinking of. Then he turned to the others, his look somewhat grave now.

"I've been looking for you all for the longest," Rhys said.

"Us too. We looked for you. We really did," Sasha said, her tone somewhat regretful. "But eventually we just... lost hope." Rhys nodded solemnly, but he shook his head and tried not to focus on the more depressing thoughts.

"First things first. Is Vaughn here?" he asked.

"Yeah, he was the guy you nearly shot," Fiona said, making his eyes widen before looking at Gaige, who raised her hands in surrender.

"Hey, I didn't know he was your friend," she said. Rhys only sighed wearily before smoothing his hair back. He did that a lot when he was stressed and/or weary.

"Close one, I would say. Bring him in here. I want to see him," Rhys told them.

"I'll get him," Janey said politely, walking out of the room. Then Rhys looked at Athena, who only glared at him in response.

"What are you looking at?" she questioned.

"You, obviously. Kinda surprised you're still alive after the Raiders got ahold of you," Rhys said, stretching his human wrist of any tense feeling.

"I suppose I got rather lucky," Athena said, recalling the arrival of the Eridian that stopped her from being filled with a bunch of bullets.

"I heard. Some creature stopped you from being bullet fodder, right?" Rhys questioned, making Athena raise an eyebrow at him. Then she looked at the two Vault Hunters who were behind him with their guns still drawn. That was how he knew. The thing is, how did he get them to stray from the Raiders?

"Rhys?" a familiar voice said that made Rhys smile on the spot. He turned from looking at Athena to face his friend. He had a beard, which looked pretty cool, but he recognized his friend when he saw him. Which is why he went up to him without hesitation and effortlessly lifted him up in a hug. Vaughn was somewhat startled by the strength his friend showed, but he still smiled.

"Whoa! Calm down Rhys! I'm going to get vertigo," he joked, making Rhys let him down with a smile.

"Good to see you again buddy. Sorry about the bullets that were a little too close to your head. We just thought the place was filled with random Hyperion workers," he told him, his expression apologetic.

"Well, that's true. But we're here as well," Vaughn said, gesturing around the room. Fiona. Sasha. Athena. Janey. Cassius-"

"That's someone I need to see. I have work for him," Rhys said.

"I'll get him for you then," Vaughn said, walking out. He smiled at his friend's retreating presence before turning back to Fiona and Sasha and taking a seat like he had lived here forever.

"So, how are things?" he asked in a casual tone. He didn't stop smiling.

"Ok. But what work-"

"Gaige did mention that I was the new owner of Atlas. Didn't you mention that?" Rhys said, looking at the woman in question with an even wider grin.

"I surely did," Gaige said in a proper tone and a smile that made Rhys grin wider. But this caused Athena's head to snap towards him.

"So you've been-"

"Designing the weapons that you've been seeing in vendors? Yes, I surely am. Exhausting work when you're doing it all by yourself, I must say," Rhys said idly.

"Wait, you haven't hired workers yet? Why?" Sasha asked.

"If I do and they rat me out to the Raiders, that'll be an end to the fresh start I wanted. I have to take things one step at a time. Slowly progress into trusting people and letting them into the city. Once I start getting more workers, then I'll focus on building a military and start setting up bases around Pandora. I plan on working on more than just weaponry," Rhys explained.

"What else do you plan on doing?" Gaige asked, genuinely curious as to what he had planned in the future. It also prevented the others from following up what Rhys said about the Raiders.

"Research. I believe that some of the creatures of Pandora can be used to fix some things that can be wrong with people. Let's take Varkids for example. They have the ability to evolve themselves to be better than they were. That could be used to cure problems like irregular growth or lack of," Rhys said, his thoughts causing that analytical expression to start swimming in his eyes. It was very interesting to look at. Gaige still found the expression really interesting to look at.

"So... you have plans to do something better than what Jack did?" Gaige asked.

"That's the idea. I'm actually going to be what many Hyperions thought he was. Well, actually that's going a little too far. Many of them thought he was a god," Rhys said with a hollow chuckle. "Bastard isn't even worth the dirt on my shoe."

"Congratulations. You've evolved into Pandoran thinking," Sasha said making Rhys grin.

"I think I already accomplished that nearly two years ago. Trust me, a lot has changed. In my mind and body. It's been years full of pain, evolving, work, and sexual innuendos," he said. Everyone in the room, including Athena, had their eyebrows raise into their hair at the last one. He only chuckled. "That last one needs some explaining, doesn't it?"

"You think?" Fiona questioned.

"Ever heard of Mad Moxxi?" Rhys asked.

"You know her?" Janey suddenly asked. Athena frowned at the slight excitement in her wife's tone upon mentioning her. She met Moxxi on Elpis and knew Janey initially had a crush on her. She wouldn't do or say anything. Yet.

"By a stroke of fate, we became friends. And now she's got me into her habit of listing shameless innuendos," Rhys said.

"Believe me, he's as bad as her sometimes," Gaige said, jerking a thumb towards Rhys.

"Blame her, not me," he said while raising his hands in surrender, making Gaige roll her eyes.

"Can you introduce us?" Sasha asked.

"That depends," Rhys said.

"Depends on what?" Sasha asked as Vaughn came back with Cassius.

"Ah, just the man I wanted to see. Anyway, it depends on whether or not you come with me. You'll have to drive to Old Haven though," Rhys said.

"We'll have to drive? What, you're not coming with us?" Sasha asked.

"I can take the Fast Travel back," Rhys said.

"And we can't because..." Fiona trailed.

"Because you'll be blasted the security turrets before I can get your biometric signature scanned. Those pretty little faces of yours won't be of much use to anyone if they're blasted into a bunch of little sticky pieces," Rhys told them in a kind voice. Fiona blinked in a perplexed fashion at his tone and choice of words.

"Oh," she said flatly. Then she noticed something he said. "Wait, if you have security turrets, are you really worried people ratting you out?"

"You destroyed two turrets using nothing but your hat a few years ago. Turrets aren't as good as soldiers. Soldiers I don't have hired yet. It doesn't take much for people who have a few cells in their brain to get past turrets. The turrets might kill a few of them, but that's about it. And with the Raiders after my ass, it's something I can't afford. So yes. You'll have to drive," Rhys told her, his tone turning somewhat sour. Then, with some force behind it, he grabbed Cassius and promptly left the room.

Fiona and Sasha stared at him as he walked past them with Cassius. He said something about the Raiders being after him. He had a lot of explaining to do about that. But then they noticed the way his mood soured upon mentioning them. I mean, Rhys seemingly hated Hyperion ever since he had Jack in his head, and so did the Raiders because of everything Hyperion did to them. Shouldn't they have been on the same side?

"Trust me, it's a long story. You might wanna get going. You got a fairly long drive," Gaige said, patting Sasha and Fiona on the shoulder like she hadn't just aimed a gun at their heads before following Rhys. Zer0 was already gone. No one had even saw him leave. That sounded about right; his ability to disappear on the spot.

"What do you think of him?" Fiona asked Sasha.

"I don't know. He's different, that's for sure. Looks like he can handle himself. Hell if I know how he got those Vault Hunters on his side. They had been with the Raiders for years, and now they're with him? I don't know," she explained.

"He definitely was genuine when it came to Atlas and his plans concerning it," Athena said, somewhat reluctantly. As if she hated admitting that Atlas coming back may actually be a good thing.

"He said he knew Mad Moxxi and that she's in Old Haven as well. Didn't she reside in Sanctuary as well?" Fiona asked.

"I think so," Sasha said.

"So, no matter if he's on the good or bad side of this, he managed to start a mutiny in the Raiders. Which mean he's not just simply 'the owner of Atlas.' He's a very convincing person, he's got resources, he knows how to use them to his advantage, and just about everything else that makes a man with such resources dangerous," Athena summed up, ticking off her fingers.

"You think he'll be dangerous?" Sasha asked.

"Not to us. I put no guarantees on me, but you all are definitely safe. Even while building his company, he spent all his time looking for you," Athena said. But the dispassionate look on her face disappeared at was replaced with a rather grim look that worried everyone in the room.

"But if they bump heads, the Raiders'll be looking at a second war. And depending on what sides people take and how far he's gotten with rebuilding Atlas, the war might be over sooner than later. When I was in Sanctuary, there was this Eridian that warned the Raiders about war coming and that they needed all the Vault Hunters they could get. Now I'm starting to wonder if he is, in fact, bringing the war to them," Athena explained to them.

Fiona and Sasha both exchanged glances. They knew Rhys. He wasn't the type of person to go off starting wars. But he had changed. For the better, or for his better though? There was a fine line between the two being the same thing. And like the war with Hyperion, all of Pandora would probably feel its effects.

"You really think it'll come to that?" Sasha asked.

"I'm not sure if he has a vengeful hatred for them for whatever they might have done to him, but the very mention of them was enough to turn his cheerful mood into something sour. Whoever starts the fight; whether it be Rhys or the Raiders, they're not going to take it lying down. And war will start again," Athena explained.

A grim silence surrounded the room. They had already been through one war. Everyone ended up losing people they cared about. Or at the very least, liked the remotest bit. That was only going to happen again if what Athena said was right.

"Hold up. Regardless of this new attitude Rhys has, he's never been one for picking fights or picking on anyone period," Vaughn interjected. "Rhys was always at least civil to other workers back on Helios. Well, when they weren't assholes."

"Things change, people change Vaughn. I mean, he's got power and he's got resources. He's got... well, just about everything Jac-"

"Don't compare Rhys to him," Vaughn said with distaste in his tone. "Rhys didn't use people that were on his side as footstools. He has friends. He has things and people worth caring about."

"Hey, I don't want to go there either. Believe me, I don't. But we have to look at every possibility. We're talking about the possibility of anohter war here. And unlike Jack, Rhys has got Vault Hunters on his side. The assassin is really someone you would want on your side. He saved me and Rhys, but to go so far to team up with him..." Sasha trailed.

"It only shows why he's all the more dangerous. Not just because of the things he can do and how effectively he can do them, but you also have to look at the people on his side. He's not the defenseless little Hyperion I saw him as when I first met him. No, he's Atlas now. Not to mention young, smart, stronger, and, by the look of things, has access to a whole lot of weapons and technology. If you were to pile anger and hatred on top of a man who has all of that..."

"It makes for a very volatile combination," Fiona finished, making Athena nod.

"Given the fact that I would've been dead had it not been for the intermission of the Eridian, I think I'll join his side. I have no reason to spare them any sympathy," Athena explained before sighing heavily. "And to think I once cursed this very company and swore I would do everything in my power to see it burnt to the ground. Now I'm going back on that."

"Well, Rhys isn't like those leaders that ran the company at one point. He's not looking to try and screw somebody over just cause it would be fun," Vaughn reminded her.

"Speaking of Rhys, let's go ahead and meet him at Old Haven. Think Loader Bot might want to come?" Sasha asked.

"More than likely. But if he's coming, he's bringing Gortys. And if Mad Moxxi is really there, it might not be the best environment for her," Fiona said.

"Good point. Alright, we'll just head out. Who's all coming with?" Sasha asked.

"Me," Fiona and Vaughn said immediately.

"Me. Because Rhys seemingly has work for me now," Cassius suddenly said, making several people jump. They had almost forgot the man was in the room. "Never thought I'd be working in the name of Atlas again."

"I'd never thought I'd actually allow that to happen," Athena said, rubbing her temples.

"You'll be fine. Believe me, Rhys likes you. You saved his life," Janey said in an idle tone, putting a reassuring hand on her wife's shoulder. Everyone except Cassius couldn't resist a small snort at the last part of Janey's sentence. There were just some things that Janey said in such a way that would make it hard for anyone to keep a straight face.

"I think I'll stay here. Seeing so much Atlas may actually make me physically sick," she said.

"Suit yourself. Alright, we're heading out," Fiona said, walking out of the room with everyone who was going to tag along in tow.


	16. Chapter 16 - Office Discussions

"Do me a favor and run a diagnostic test on these caliber rounds. I need the one with the most strength in them," Rhys told Gaige, holding up a round for her to see.

"You expect me to carry a gun that's about as big as me to run a test?" she questioned, making Rhys roll his eyes.

"No, of course not. Head to the shooting range. There's a gun already set up for you. Just load the rounds in. There's enough Poly-Kryten to use as targets to build a small house," Rhys said, handing her two hundred bucks and the caliber rounds. "That's just to fire a gun."

"That's why you and I will always be friends. You're very generous with your money," Gaige said with a smile, making Rhys grin back before he playfully pushed her. She let out an airy laugh before heading towards the range.

"What's the good word?" Moxxi asked, coming up to him as Gaige was leaving. He turned to face her with a grin on his face.

"I found them," Rhys said with a smile.

"By 'them,' I can only assume you mean those Pandorans and your best friend, right?" Moxxi questioned.

"It's never good to assume darling, but you're correct," Rhys said with a pleased tone. "They were in the same place, so it was a three for one deal."

"Well, I'm glad. It's not often that people you're looking for on Pandora are still alive," Moxxi said, making Rhys chuckle a little.

"Don't I know it? I also told them I knew you. They want to meet you," Rhys told her.

"If they ask for autographs, I'm charging," Moxxi said in an idle tone.

"How about you put it on my four million dollar tab?" Rhys questioned with a chuckle.

"Alright. Then each autograph will cost one point thirty three million with a ton of threes at the end. I will only owe you one cent after this," Moxxi said with a smirk. Rhys pointed at her in what was an attempt at being serious, but the wide grin on his face negated that.

"Hey. Stop trying to swindle me," he said, his tone obviously amused.

"Fine. Two fifty each," Moxxi said. Then Rhys looked at her with more of a hesitant look.

"Know that I'm kidding, right? You don't have to feel the need to pay me back," he told her. Moxxi grinned before holding his left cheek and kissing his right one. Rhys wouldn't have been surprised if steam was coming out of his ears.

"Awfully sweet of you sugar. But luckily for you and your pockets, I feel like it," she said, patting his cheek twice. "I may be able to actually give you that four million back soon."

"How?" Rhys asked.

"There was an arena I bribed Mister Torgue into letting me keep. If I play my cards right, I can give you back the four million. Plus a little extra," Moxxi said, putting a finger on his lips before he could respond. "And don't you worry about the idea of your gift being spoiled. The kindness of it is more than enough for me. Trust me, when most people do things, it's not out of the kindness of their heart."

"That's very nice of you. Thanks," Rhys said with a genuine smile.

"Don't tell anyone," Moxxi said, placing a finger to her lips. But she only smiled in a warmer fashion once she put her hand down. "But don't thank me. You're the one who spent four million dollars on me without expecting anything in return even though you have a company to run. This is me returning the favor. Anyway, what do you think we oughta do as far as population goes? I know you said you weren't quite ready to let people into the city..."

"You're right. I'm not. Even more so because I'll have more people that I care about staying here. But I'm going to. I wake up tired and go to sleep exhausted. Least I'll have Vaughn to take care of the financials and Cassius to work on some of my designs. I'll give them the day to work everything. I need sleep," Rhys explained, trying to rub his neck free of stress.

"Why financing? Isn't that one of the more boring jobs?" Moxxi asked.

"Not for Vaughn. He lives for handling the money. Plus he can handle the money ten times better than I can and solve the problems about twice as fast," Rhys said.

"He's that good?" Moxxi asked.

"On Helios, there's a reason why he was referred to as 'The Money Man.' Because he can get it and manage it excellently. After all, he stole ten million dollars from Hyperion in less than five seconds," Rhys said.

"That is good. You can't pick a better guy to handle your finances than that. Good decision," Moxxi said with a satisfied nod.

"I'm a businessman. I gotta make smart choices," Rhys said, rubbing his neck even harder. "I'm going to break my own goddamn neck if I don't loosen up soon. Might giving tackling it with your magic hands?"

"You want it, you pay for it," Moxxi said with a small smirk.

"Don't care. The way my neck feels, I wouldn't care if you charged me another four million," Rhys said, rubbing his neck hard.

"First of all, stop doing that. You're just making it worse on yourself. You don't want stiffness _and_ soreness," Moxxi said, smacking his hand down. "Take a seat."

Rhys did exactly that and sat in his comfortable chair behind his desk. Then manicured nails dug into his neck. Definitely far less painful than most of the crap he's been through on this planet. Being shot. Being beat. Stabbed. Burned. Bones broken. The list goes on and on when it comes to this fucking planet.

"Save the kinky stuff for a Saturday night," Rhys said with a smirk as his eyes were closed. Moxxi grinned.

"Believe me sugar, I don't need a Saturday night as an excuse. There are plenty of things I can do on a Monday to make it... entertaining," Moxxi said in a seductive tone as she dug an elbow into his neck. Rhys grit his teeth, but it was a type of pain that felt sort of good. More relieving.

"Oh, so your idea of making a Monday entertaining is to leave claw marks and lipstick stains all over someone's body?" Rhys questioned rhetorically.

"Uh huh," Moxxi said slowly.

"No one can deny that if that happened to them every Monday, it certainly wouldn't be boring," Rhys said with a smile.

"No they could not," Moxxi said as she put more pressure in her thumb on one section of his neck. "Damn Rhys. Have you been carrying Brick and Salvador on your neck?"

"No. I'm afraid you'd be massaging a broken neck in that case. Depending on where they sat, I might not even be alive to ask for a massage," Rhys told her.

"Good point. Either way, you need to take it easier on the work. This is not healthy at all," Moxxi said.

"Might start smoking again then," Rhys said. Moxxi looked at him with her head slightly tilted.

"You smoke?" she asked.

"I used to. Stresses of the internship at Hyperion. I smoked at least a pack every week or every other week at the time. I kicked the habit though," Rhys said.

"What got you to stop? If I had to work at Hyperion while that Jackass was still alive, I'd be smoking, drinking, and fucking all at the same time. And then I would still probably want to commit suicide the next morning," Moxxi said dryly, making Rhys chuckle. It was hilarious when Moxxi took these rare dry tones.

"Vaughn. Having him around made it easier to cope. His recommendations got him an instant job at Hyperion in the financial department. I took an internship because I wanted to get a feel for Helios before I decided to work there. One of the worst ideas I've ever had. Interns are treated like shit more so than the average Hyperion employee. And that says a lot," Rhys said before groaning in pleasure from one spot Moxxi unraveled. "Hell, whatever you're charging, it sure is worth it."

"You're certainly better than most people on Elpis," Moxxi said.

"What about them?" Rhys asked.

"Back on Elpis, as well running a bar, I also had a Geisha bot service. A lot of times I got questions as to whether they could book Sareena, the Geisha bot, for more... physical treatments," Moxxi said, making Rhys wrinkle his nose in disgust.

"Ok, I've heard of desperation, but that's ridiculous," he said. "Seriously? A Geisha bot?"

"Yup," Moxxi said, popping the p idly.

"There were seriously people who weren't satisfied with handling their 'problems' themselves, that they would ask to see if a Geisha bot could do it?" he asked, turning around to look at her.

"Turn," Moxxi said, turning him back around and starting to massage his neck again. "And yes. Back on Elpis, that was the only problem I had to deal with though. Until the Jackass showed up."

"He went to Elpis?" Rhys asked.

"Yeah. At the time, he had some mercenaries at his back. They needed my help to retake their space station," Moxxi said.

"Helios?" Rhys questioned.

"That's the one. At the time, I had no choice. Dahl planned on using some beam they called the Eye of Helios to blow up Elpis. We needed all the help we could get at the time," Moxxi said before smirking. "I dealt with that accordingly though."

"What'd you do?" Rhys asked.

"I tricked Jack into overloading the Eye so that he couldn't use it anymore. It was supposed to kill him too. Sadly, it didn't," Moxxi said, thinking back to that very day. If only he got sucked in with that singularity... Moxxi sighed. Should've, could've. Would've is out of the question since she technically tried.

"Sadly is right. People died and suffered because of that asshole," Rhys said, pounding his desk with his metal hand. Good thing it was made of Poly-Kryten. He would dented if it was made of a softer metal. Or broke it if he decided to be stereotypical and make it out of wood.

"Namely us. That's why we really hate Hyperion. Because it was what that Jackass represented. But you taught me something," Moxxi said, moving her hands to his shoulders.

"That is?" Rhys asked.

"That just because you work for the tyrant, it doesn't mean that you aren't suffering because of him," Moxxi said. Rhys looked at his desk with a sad look.

"I've lost friends too. I had a few older friends at the time. You said you know about Dahl invading Helios?" Rhys said.

"Yeah," Moxxi said.

"I got off easy just losing an eye and arm. I watched people die in absolute agony as they were tortured to death," Rhys said, his face grim. "It's just... you learn to put at the back of your mind to numb it, but their faces are still there... and their voices... their screams... begging for mercy..."

"Stop," Moxxi said, stopping in her massaging and looking him dead in his face. She didn't like that look on his face. That haunted, deadened look that she saw on the faces of many people during the war.

Rhys immediately stood up from his chair and began to pace while putting a hand on his forehead. Moxxi looked at him and saw that he was fighting his anguish. It showed on his face in little bits and pieces; cracks in his armor.

"And to think we believed Hyperions were soulless," Moxxi said idly as she walked from behind his chair.

"The people who are in charge are. They don't care about the lackeys. We're all just fodder to feed to the grinder; cogs in a gigantic machine. Well, not anymore. Now they're all fucking dead. And so are the fucking monsters who turned me into some vague representation of a cyborg. I'll be glad to meet them in hell and spit in their face at the end of the road."

Silence hit the room. Moxxi looked at Rhys, whose eyesight was entirely focused on the ground. If his eyes were lasers, there'd be a hole the size of a lake where he was staring. Then he took out two hundred bucks and handed it to Moxxi.

"Thanks for the massage," Rhys said, sitting in his chair.

Moxxi walked around and looked at him. Rhys' eyes were closed and his hands were rubbing his forehead. He looked stressed more than anything. Not tense, but just stressed. Pounding forehead and relentless thoughts pounding in his brain.

"You gonna be alright?" Moxxi asked. She couldn't quite remember the last time she was concerned for someone's well being. Usually there had been no need. Everyone seemingly had it all together. Whether they were smart, dumb, or just insane.

But this man... he just seemed forever haunted. No matter what he did, where he went, or what he became, problems seem to follow him; ghosts trailing in his wake.

"Stay for a moment. I feel the need to tell this to someone else. Gaige already knows. I just want to tell it again," Rhys said, standing to his feet. "Did you know that I was actually born on Pandora?"

"No. I would've guessed some place like Eden or something. Pandora? Really?" Moxxi asked.

"Uh huh. My mother raised me for a few years. Don't remember my dad. Probably don't want to. Either he's dead or he left. Either one, I don't want to think about," Rhys said, pacing around the room. Moxxi watched him as he paced. Restless. Tense. Distracted.

"Apparently..." Rhys continued, drawing a revolver and tracing his human index finger across the three inch barrel. "Hyperion had a particular interest in me or my mother. I don't know which. They found her and killed her. Not in front of me. I remember I was six at the time. They said mom had something to work out with the other officers. They took me to Helios and got me all settled in."

"Next thing I know they tell my mother's dead along with the soldiers she was with. Killed by bandits apparently. They told me that they could give me the chance to pay them back. That Hyperion could make them pay if I helped them and me, being a child, believed them. Followed me all the way to my adult years. That was my desire. Help Hyperion make Pandora a better place. A child's basest desire turns out to be some cute little representation of what vengeance is."

"The cruel thing is that, as you can surely guess, Jack didn't own Hyperion. Hell, I don't think he even worked for Hyperion yet when they told me this. Which meant Hyperion had no interest in Pandora or anything. No, no, no. Even back then, people in the company were just so sure that they could do anything they wanted when they wanted," Rhys said, starting to laugh in a way that was more manic than anything.

"Then again, I wondered. Why Pandora? What even sent them there? Why in the hell would they visit that deathtrap of all places just for a mother and her child? What was it about her that they found interesting enough that they came here?"

The somewhat hysteric look on his face disappeared and it was replaced by something more analytical, more thoughtful. It was a more familiar look that made Moxxi relax a little. But she had to admit, to go through that had to be a struggle emotionally. At least for her it was liberating to know that both of her parents were dead. She could deal with it. To be lied to and not knowing what to believe is just beyond messed up. In ways that beyond what a Pandoran can do. There was some truth to the statement that there was peace in death.

"Anyway, that's enough of that. You can go ahead and go. I just needed to get that off my chest," Rhys said, going back to some work.

"Oh, no. You need to stop with the work. I had to work out some tense spots harder than Poly-Kryten. You can give the work a rest until your friend gets here," Moxxi said, snatching the pen from his distracted, and therefore loose grasp.

"Must you be so difficult?" Rhys asked.

"I'm looking out for your health. Stop whining," Moxxi told him. He only shook his head before propping his feet up on his desk. Moxxi was about to walk out, but as she was about to take a step, she stopped as her foot hovered over the marble floors. A thought came to mind as she turned back to the man sitting in the chair. Damn he was a looker.

"You need something else?" Rhys asked.

"Enjoying the view," Moxxi said with a smirk. Rhys only chuckled.

"Well, this view is off limits," he said.

"Hold on. One more spot I forgot to massage," Moxxi said, walking around behind him.

"But I feel fine," Rhys said. Didn't stop him from putting his feet down though.

"That's because you are. But I'm not talking about your shoulders," Moxxi said. The thing that threw him that it wasn't any of the teasing she usually had laced in her voice. Her voice was seductive with a somewhat serious undertone. Then she felt her hands go down his shirt. Her hands felt cold on his chest, nails lightly scraping spots where he began to build a little chest hair. Then he felt her hands roam up and down.

"You're certainly well built. It certainly does wonders for stamina," Moxxi said idly.

"Any reason you're feeling up and down my chest? I mean, if you're trying to get me to go red, how about I just say you win and we can move on?" Rhys asked with a small chuckle. Moxxi only smirked before lowering her mouth next to his ear.

"Not why I'm doing it sugar," she said in a seductive tone. But this one felt... different. More intimate. Uh-uh. He wasn't falling for it.

"You keep this up, I'm actually going to think you're serious," Rhys said, making Moxxi groan internally. She wanted to damn him, but she knew the games they played. Mostly the many mind games she played on him. She couldn't quite blame him for being on alert. Shame. She liked a bit of foreplay before the main event.

"You know what? To hell with the foreplay," Moxxi said. So she turned his chair around, straddled him, then kissed him full on the mouth. Rhys' eyes widened in shock. She was actually serious!

Seemingly on instinct, he put his metal arm around the back of her neck gently to push her kiss deeper. Kissing was about the only thing he had practice with when it came to relationships, so he could at least say that he was proficient at it.

But Moxxi was a whole nother galaxy compared to the women you could find on Helios. Women on Helios kissed either sort and hesitant or so demanding, it was more like a biting contest than a make out. Moxxi was demanding, but it was more like she was... claiming. Roaming everywhere she could and putting the right combination of lips and tongue on an area.

He pushed her toward him to deepen this kiss while gently grazing his teeth on her bottom lip. He felt her grin through the kiss as she put a hand on the back of his head and broke the kiss. The image of a sultry faced Moxxi straddling his lap was something out of most men and some women's dreams. Only for him, he was awake.

"Not bad. Not bad at all," Moxxi said, giving him a seductive grin. But it was unlike her usual one. It wasn't a casual one for an innuendo. This one felt like it was more for him. Rhys could tell the difference.

"Thanks. Most girls I've dated are not a big fan of the teeth thing," Rhys said with an unconscious goofy grin on his face. Rhys didn't seem to know it was on his face, but the sight made Moxxi smile wider.

"I'm not a girl. Maybe that's why they didn't like it. You're over here robbing the cradle," Moxxi said, making Rhys grin.

"Hey, I was in that cradle at the time too. At the time, I kissed to try and please them so I wouldn't be trying to look for another relationship. This time I just kissed how I wanted to," Rhys told her.

"Definitely shows that you're looking to satisfy that hunger. Those kinks," Moxxi said seductively as she put a hand on his crotch. Rhys blushed out of embarrassment.

"I kind of haven't made it past kissing," he blurted out. He managed to go even a deeper shade of red, but Moxxi simply tilted her head at him.

"I admit. I haven't ever desired many virgins before. But I definitely would love the opportunity to teach you how to please. Trust me. You'll be an expert in no time," Moxxi said, standing up. "I figured I should go to slow with just kissing. Believe me, if I had any indication that you knew what you were doing, I would've been nibbling, scratching, and everything else. I would've ordered the chains and oils and everything."

Rhys opened his mouth and immediately closed it before turning red again. They were back at this phase again. The phase where Moxxi could say and do things that turned him into a tomato with pounding blood. But in this case, he liked it. It made his heart pound with excitement as well as embarrassment. Then he felt her hand on his cheek with a warm smile on her face.

"Believe me on this though. If I didn't care for you anything beyond a fancy new sex toy, I would've. We'll work it out at a later date. For now, we'll take it slow," Moxxi said, patting his shoulders and standing up straight while smoothing out her clothing. Rhys blew out of a puff of breath before leaning back in his chair.

"One more thing," Moxxi said as she was standing at the door and looking at him. You had to be half blind to see that hadn't been making out with someone. Or nearly had his face sucked off by a thresher's tentacles. "If you don't want to be bombarded with aggravating questions as soon as your friends get here, I suggest you fix your clothes, your flush, and those lips."

Rhys looked at himself. He didn't see her unbutton his shirt. His clothes were wrinkly, and his face felt like he just had very minor heat stroke. Lips were probably puffy as hell. So he just opted for going ahead and changing in his suit. He'd head to the bathroom right after.

As he began to undress himself, there was that awkward feeling he hadn't felt in a few years. That feeling when you're trying to change clothes with a boner. Felt kinda good.


	17. Chapter 17 - Visitors

A/N: To the person who says Rhys and Moxxi don't match as a couple, I have to disagree with you. No one to my knowledge has ever played around with the idea of these two as a pairing. There are most likely reasons for that, but I thought of it and I saw a chance for potential. Regardless of any disagreement, that's how this is going to work out for the story. I will say that I was fighting with the idea of pairing Rhys up with Gaige, but in the end, I decided with this.

* * *

 _"Incoming vehicle detected. Origin: Unknown. View camera or set turrets to fire?"_ the computerized voice asked.

"View," Rhys said as he put his arm in front of his face. He got an image of the security cameras to survey the distance. He immediately recognized the cowboy hat that was in the driver's seat of the Technical. Even if the color was different. "Hold your fire. Prepare biometric scan for permanent access."

 _"Allowing access. Disabling security turrets. Preparing for biometric scan. Labels will be sent shortly to fill in,"_ the computerized voice said. Rhys smiled. He could control this entire base with his arm. Technology was such a intricate thing, but it was most certainly useful.

Rhys decided to listen to Moxxi's suggestion about not working. Even if he wanted to work, he felt like he couldn't. Not only would Vaughn, Cassius, and the girls be coming inside very soon, but his thoughts were a little too preoccupied to think.

 _"Believe me on this though. If I didn't care for you anything beyond a fancy new sex toy, I would've."_ The memory of Moxxi's words made him smile. There was a lot about that woman that wasn't cut and dry. In a good way. He liked that.

Rhys shook his head. He knew his thoughts were going to only go further and further into _that_ territory. Not the wisest things when company was coming. Not to mention the fact that introductions involving that very same person were soon to be in order. No. Best to keep his mind on the straight and narrow.

"You want the diagnostics 'boss?'" Gaige said, walking into his office with a smirk on her face. Rhys grinned before nodding and gesturing her to come inside.

"Definitely. What rounds are the most destructive?" he asked. Gaige held up the round made of titanium. "Had a feeling it would be those. They hit hard and travel fast cause of their weight. But I had to make sure."

"Any reason you're doing diagnostics on guns that'll be bigger than people?" Gaige asked.

"I have a design for a car. I heard Scooter's sister runs the Catch-A-Ride company now, so I'll partner my vehicle with her. But I'm not letting bandits have them, so they'll be locked behind a code that only people I trust will know. It'll make those Bandit Technicals look like jokes," Rhys told her.

"Can you give me an image as to what it looks like?" Gaige asked. Rhys nodded before pulling up a picture of a vehicle that was longer, but not wider than a Technical with only one large thruster in the back. Initially, the design seemed rather simple, but then the image shifted. The wheels turned three hundred and sixty degrees, and thrusters were revealed on the sides with guns planted at the top behind the driver's seat. Gaige's eyes widened at the design.

"Goodness, that looks expensive. And I don't use the word goodness," she said.

"You're right. It's gonna cost over a billion dollars to make. I'll offer Ellie some money to get this digistructed into the local Catch-A-Rides as well getting a station built here. Gonna have to cough up a lot of money though. Better get all that done before I start hiring workers. If I start hiring people other than Cassius and Vaughn, I'm not going to have much money to get this stuff built," Rhys explained.

"What are you looking like as far as finances?" Gaige asked.

"Couple of hundred million. That's not going to be enough. Unless you can get me some hands on some serious digistruct tech that I can use, which is where most of the money is going," Rhys said.

"I think I may know a way," Gaige said, holding up a finger.

"Oh?" Rhys asked.

"Hyperion footed the bill for this gauntlet Tannis built. It isn't used anymore because it was in fact, too lethal for the Raiders. Nearly too lethal for us, in fact. I can bring the tech from there and you can reprogram it," Gaige said.

"Simulation tech?" Rhys asked. Gaige nodded. "Alright. That's the most expensive part, so I can definitely do this as soon as I get my hands on that tech. Now there's just the matter of getting my hands on more titanium for the armor. I'm going to need plenty of it to make the substance for the vehicle. Not to mention I have to take the time to alter it."

"Just like you did your arm, right?" Gaige asked.

"Uh huh. Immune to electricity, corrosion, and fire. Working on how to counter slag. Bullets won't even scratch it because of how thick the armor plating is. Rocket launchers will only do bits of damage to it. The main cannon can make the Technicals look like they're made of wet tissue paper with those rounds you tested for me. A minigun for infantry units. Missile launcher that can lock on to multiple targets. Thrusters and three hundred and sixty degree turning capabilities on the wheels for advanced movement in combat. While still having more speed than them when it comes to driving," Rhys explained to her. (For any of you have played the game, you know exactly what vehicle I'm talking about)

"You know much money that would make if it was sold publicly?" Gaige questioned, still looking at the design on his arm with something akin to awe on her face.

"I'd be richer than Hyperion within a few years probably. Kind of isn't saying much given the state of them right now, but that's not the point. Money is not my concern. I don't want just anyone to be able to get their hands on such a thing. They're expensive, but people out there can raise hell with just one of these. So we're going to lock their access behind a code. A code that I'm not going to give to just anyone," Rhys explained.

"You meant it when you said you're looking to change the name of Atlas. The previous owners probably would've announced the construction of these things all over the universe so they could get as much money as possible," Gaige told him.

"And that's why we will always be different. Besides, war is coming. We need something that's made for war," Rhys said.

"That's not just ready for war. That's ready for genocide," Gaige said in as-a-matter-of-fact tone.

"Hopefully, I won't have to use these things," Rhys said, dispersing the image as Moxxi walked in.

"They just walked in. Kept an eye on the cameras for you," she told Rhys. He smiled.

"Thank you darling. Come on. I can properly introduce you all," Rhys said, gesturing for them both to follow him.

Gaige was the first one to walk out. Rhys took a look at Moxxi, who winked at him. Rhys got one of those shy smiles on his face, but at least his face wasn't red.

"You want to go down there arm in arm?" Moxxi asked with a small laugh.

"Sure if you want to look like something out of a romance movie from the sixties," Rhys said dryly, making her shake her head. The slight nervousness he felt instantly melted.

"Fine. I'll just jump your bones on the table then," Moxxi said with a grin.

"What happened to taking it slow?" Rhys asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't do slow. I like to feel it fast and hard," Moxxi said, putting a hand around the back of his head and pressed her crotch right up against his body with a dirty smile on her face while one of her legs was suspended under his arm.

Rhys turned slightly red while the front of his pants bulged, making Moxxi chuckle. He couldn't stop staring at how surprisingly flexible she was. He cursed his body's reactions. They were logical, but this wasn't really the time.

"Alright, I'll let you take a few minutes to get your head together. I'll keep our guests busy," she said, seemingly reading his mind about the timing.

"With you 'teaching me how to please,' I have the feeling I'm going to die of Blue Ball Syndrome before I die from a bullet. And that is now a thing. At least in my case," Rhys said as he walked into his bathroom. Moxxi laughed airily before walking out of his office. She definitely had that strong effect on him. I mean, she'd be worried if she _didn't,_ but there was something she... best not go there. Otherwise, he wouldn't be the only one who would need a few minutes to get their head together.

Moxxi walked out of the room and back to where Moxxi saw the people she saw on the camera. She remembered Rhys said their names were Vaughn, Fiona, and Sasha. Well, the females were easy to distinguish, and Vaughn sounded like he was around Rhys' age, so who was the old guy?

"Well, well. We have guests," Moxxi said, holding her hands out at her side like she was some extravagant showgirl. Actually she was. Will be again after a while. Fiona and Sasha's eyes widened. He was not lying when he said he knew Moxxi. There she was in the flesh. Most of it just barely covered.

"Well, he wasn't kidding when he said he knew you," Sasha said with a smile. "Sasha. This is my sister Fiona. That's Vaughn. That's Cassius."

"He's told me all about you three. And I heard Rhys mention him involving work. So Gaige, you might want to get him set up. You know Rhys is going to ask you to do it," Moxxi told the girl.

"Ugh. I hate it when you're right. Only reason I do this grunt work is because he bought that lab. Wouldn't put up with it if it was anyone else," Gaige said as she gestured for Cassius to follow him.

"Actually, it may be better to take him to Rhys' office. None of us have any idea of what he's going to have him do," Moxxi said. Gaige nodded and lead Cassius away by the shoulder. Then she turned to face the two girls and Vaughn, who were looking all around the base.

"Last time we were here, the place was littered with Crimson Lancemen corpses," Sasha said.

"Not to mention we were getting shot at," Vaughn reminded her.

"Shot at?" Moxxi questioned.

"You heard of Vallory?" Fiona asked.

"I know she's a bandit leader. That's about it though. What about her? You end up pissing her off or something?" Moxxi asked.

"Well, someone we knew did. And we got caught in the crossfire, so to speak. She died after trying to open the Vault we were hunting," Fiona said.

"Won't say I'm going to miss her. And did you say a Vault?" Moxxi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah. We were hunting it at the time. We eventually opened it a few months after Helios fell. Got a bunch of people together and we got the loot. Plenty of guns and stuff to go around. Rhys was still missing at the time," Sasha said, one of her arms resting under her arm and her expression changing into something rather indistinguishable. Moxxi raised a mental eyebrow at her sudden change of attitude on the subject of Rhys.

"How's he been? I mean, I know he's been through some things given what he said about the Crimson Raiders and all of... this," Vaughn said, gesturing around the base.

"It was a rough first year for him, I'll say that much. When he comes down, he'll tell you more," Moxxi said. The three exchanged glances. This was probably not going to be pleasant to hear.

* * *

Rhys wiped his wet face with a towel. He figured just splashing his face with cold water would eventually get his thoughts in order. Had this occurred a couple of years ago, he most likely would've had to masturbate, but he was able to get his hormones in check better than a few years ago. In a strange way, Moxxi's innuendos helped him in that aspect. And Gaige said the shameless innuendos wouldn't help anyone.

Moving on, the water did in fact help, but that might've just been the water he accidentally got in his ear. He may have gotten a little carried away with trying quickly clear his thoughts.

He was furiously digging in his ear with the towel and shaking his head to try and get the water out when Gaige walked in.

"What is it?" Rhys asked, running the towel over his head once some water leaked out.

"There's a guy named Cassius that Moxxi said you would want to see," Gaige said. Rhys turned and put the towel down on his desk.

"Ah. Thank you very much. She was very much right," he said as Gaige walked out. Rhys then walked up to Cassius and held out a hand. He looked at it warily, making Rhys smile.

"Don't worry. It's just water. Filtered water, I should say," he assured him. But regardless, he shook his hand free of water before shaking Cassius' hand. "How are you?"

"I suppose I cannot complain. Never thought I would see Atlas restored to its former glory," Cassius said, looking around the room. The old scientist definitely found it interesting that this man alone restored all of this.

"Well, it isn't. Not yet at least. But that's where you come in. You'll be on the designing aspect of things. Putting together my designs and such. Your efforts will get you thirty dollars an hour for your starting salary," Rhys told him.

"More than what I got when I worked at Atlas originally. I'm certainly glad to be back now," Cassius said. Rhys smiled before handing him an ECHO.

"Map of the place is on that as well as a way to contact me for anything. Any ideas or improvements that you have, bring them my way. I'll put them under consideration," Rhys said, making Cassius nod. "Alright, get to work. You're on the clock now."

"Yes sir," Cassius said, leaving his office. Rhys smiled. "Sir." He could get used to that. A sign of the respect that he deserved.

 _"Feels good to be the boss,"_ Rhys thought with a grin as he put the towel back in his bathroom. He then headed out of his office while taking a quick look at the security cams to see where the others were at. Rhys had the strangest feeling that Moxxi was going at it relentlessly with the innuendos. Fiona and Sasha might be alright, but poor Vaughn. He didn't want his friend to be a human tomato when he got back.

"Welcome to my humble abode," Rhys said, arms at his sides as he walked up to the quartet. All four of them grinned at his arrival. To his minor surprise, Vaughn's face was not red.

"Believe me, this is anything but humble. If this is humble, then I don't know what to call Hollow Point," Fiona said.

"A dump?" Sasha and Rhys said rhetorically at the same time. They made eye contact and Rhys grinned while pointing a finger at her. Sasha gave him a mock glare.

"Don't start copying me now," she told him before the fake glare disappeared and was replaced by a grin.

"Maybe your mind is somewhat as brilliant as mine," Rhys said with a haughty tone, making Sasha punch him in the arm playfully. It felt like she tapped a leathery tree trunk.

"With the mind you have, you'd be hard pressed to find someone even half as brilliant. I'm about... eight tenths," Gaige said.

"I'm flattered. But I'd rate you about eight point seven. Don't self yourself short now," Rhys said, waggling a finger at her. Gaige laughed airily.

"Well, you certainly know how to make a girl blush," she said with a grin. Rhys smirked before putting his arm around Vaughn's shoulders.

"Advice on women. If they sell themselves short, add a point seven. Never fails," Rhys said, making Vaughn and all the women in the room roll their eyes. Including Gaige. Rhys was so many things right now. One of them being a very sarcastic declaration of a charmer.

"You're going to make him sound ridiculous," Fiona said.

"Not if he talks like this," Rhys said in a deep and seductive tone. The change of tone surprised Fiona and Vaughn. It just made Moxxi grin, and caused Sasha as well as Gaige, who turned to the side, to blush.

"Where in the world did that come from?" Fiona questioned.

"What? It is just my voice. Does it... interest you?" Rhys said, still talking in the same tone of voice while staring at Fiona with a suggestive look on his face. But he also sounded smoother and deeper because he talked slower. This time Fiona really did blush before glaring at him.

"Stop that," she said. Rhys only grinned before glancing at Vaughn, who was looking at him with a bewildered look before shaking his head.

"In all of my years of knowing you, I've never once heard you talk to a girl like that," Vaughn said.

"I tried once in high school. I sounded like a midget with its nuts caught between a skag's jaws," Rhys said idly, making Vaughn cringe and unconsciously cross his legs while he was standing up. "Uncomfortable to think about, I know."

"And now you sound like the definition of testosterone and seduction. Excellent job," Moxxi said. Rhys gave off a small bow in response.

"Thank you. Thank you," he said.

"Alright enough of... whatever the hell you're doing. Mind breaking your story down for us?" Sasha asked, dispelling the redness from her face.

"Sure. We can take this to the bar. Gaige, you wanna come with?" Rhys asked.

"Sure. Not like I got much else to do," Gaige said with a shrug.

"Good. Let's head to the bar then. If you're wondering, yes, we've got just about every drink in there. You can thank me later," Rhys said, making Fiona and Sasha smile. They could throw down drinks on the best of days. Vaughn didn't drink much, but he was here for the conversation more than anything.

"Coming?" Rhys asked, looking back at Moxxi and Gaige when they were still standing together.

"Yeah, in a minute. Just need to talk with her really quick," Moxxi told him. Rhys nodded and lead the ladies and his best friend towards the bar. Moxxi then turned with a smirk in Gaige's direction.

"That voice got to you, didn't it?" she asked.

"The only reason it didn't affect you is because you're... you," Gaige said somewhat defensively.

"I've taught him a lot of things. And there are more things to come," Moxxi said, unconsciously biting her tongue gently at the thought.

"What haven't you taught him that he doesn't already know? He's the male version of you in public at times," Gaige said.

"I haven't taught him the joys of dirty, hard, and shameless sex. That's really going to be fun," Moxxi said with a smile.

"That one's gong to take some time," Gaige said.

"He already knows how to kiss. Pretty damn good, I might add," Moxxi said, making Gaige's eyes widen.

"When?" she asked.

"Few hours after he got back from that job you were all on. I suppose... I couldn't help myself," Moxxi said. That wasn't entirely true. She acted at that moment for a reason. But it was kinda true.

"I know you said you were willing to share, but I'm not stepping into a three way relationship," Gaige told her. "Hell, considering we're dealing with Rhys here, I don't think he would even agree with that."

"You're probably right. But you're missing out," Moxxi told her.

"It would be doing the both of us a disservice by doing that. Especially you," Gaige said, making Moxxi look at her in a confused fashion. Gaige sighed. "How do you really feel about him? Come on. It doesn't hurt to be honest with yourself."

Moxxi gently bit her bottom lip. She wasn't the type to just lay all of her feelings out on the table. That was just not how she did things. Yet she suppose she had a relative trust with Gaige. She couldn't really name any friendship of hers that was was quite like this. For once, she would take that step forward.

"Tell no one what I'm about to say. Not even Rhys," Moxxi said firmly.

"I promise," Gaige said truthfully with a nod. Moxxi sighed and put her thoughts in order concerning the man. First thoughts were honest thoughts. So that's what she would say.

"He's different than anyone I've ever dated. Even married. There were people who knew I was smart, and were slightly intimidated by that. There are people who just want sex. That's what I want in a one night stand and some relationships, but not a marriage."

"But with him, sex is the furthest thing on his mind. Well, maybe not the furthest, but it's not a priority. He likes talking to me as a person and not a sex toy or something to ogle at. He enjoys the innuendo game we play. He recognizes me as a woman, yet recognizes me as a person too; someone he can actually talk to."

"One of the biggest things is that he's weirdly genuine. It's unnatural. You don't run into people like that. People who are just honest. Who don't have a reason to lie. He came to Sanctuary knowing fully well everyone there hated Hyperion and told everyone that he used to work for them. He bit that bullet just to be honest with everyone. I can't see anyone else doing the same."

"To sum things up, I find him sexy not just in body. I find him sexy in mind. In soul. In his attitude. You can be damn sure that I want him. He's a hell of a sight better than anyone else I could find on this planet."

Moxxi just noticed that she was now mere inches from Gaige. There was a type of... heat in her words. A sort of passion. Oh, boy. She fell hard for a man. Usually it's the other way around. And judging by the grin on Gaige's face, she knew it.

"And that's exactly why you deserve him. I couldn't give anyone reasoning like that as to why I wanted him. I want him, but it's more like you need him. All the more reason why I'm not coming between you two. I'd say you deserve this," Gaige said with a smile on her face. Moxxi smiled at the girl in front of her.

"You know the amount of friends I've had that would say and do something like that?" she asked.

"None? It's just a guess," Gaige said.

"You're right. So thank you," Moxxi said, hugging the girl in front of her. Gaige returned the hug in kind.

"You're definitely welcome. Besides, how often do you see the big, bad Mad Moxxi soften like a like a Rakk egg in heat?" she said with a grin, making Moxxi stand back to look at her while pointing a finger.

"Hey. I may be a cesspool of innuendo and sex that could drown Pandora, but there is actually a person under here. A person that wants to be cared about just like anyone else. Besides, even I can get tired of jumping from man to man to the occasional woman," she said.

"Well, I think you've just found your person to care about you. People will accuse you of robbing the cradle or being with the next position of power, but you know. It's how it goes," Gaige said with a shrug.

"Those people can go suck on their mother's left tit. Besides, it's nothing I haven't already heard before," Moxxi said, making Gaige snort.

"That's quite the thing to tell them to do," she said.

"Well, if they do it, they're not in much of a position to talk about my choice of a man, are they?" Moxxi questioned rhetorically.

"True. It might be best if we get back to Rhys and the others. We've been talking too damn long," Gaige said. Feet outside of a door quickly scurried away silently.

"True. Remember, keep it under wraps. Otherwise, I'll be coming after you next," Moxxi warned Gaige, making her grin.

"I won't tell anyone. Scout's honor," she said, doing the hand signal.

"Were you even a girl scout?" Moxxi asked as they walked towards the bar.

"For like a day when I was thirteen. The day after, I ended up chucking a rock at the leader cause I didn't like his attitude. Knocked him out with it, and I was thrown out," Gaige said, making Moxxi laugh.

"That... is a very horrible way to get kicked out. Funny though," she said. Gaige only grinned wider.


	18. Chapter 18 - Bad Things for Good People

"Took you long enough. A couple more, and Sasha's gonna pass out from drinking too much," Rhys said, the girl in question nudging him hard in the ribs while he grinned.

"I was not! I can hold my liquor!" she exclaimed defensively.

"About as well as Rhys kept his smoking habit under wraps a few years ago," Vaughn said with a smirk as he took a sip from his drink. Sasha looked at Rhys curiously.

"You smoked?" she asked.

"You would too if you worked at Hyperion as an intern at one point," Rhys said.

"I'd be drinking until I passed out as well," Sasha said.

"You're doing that now," Rhys said cheekily, making her move towards in him in some joking form of an attack.

"You are the limit!" Sasha exclaimed, smacking the top of his head repeatedly.

"Hmm. I love it when you hurt me good like that," Rhys said with a suggestive tone. Gaige and Moxxi both snickered as Gaige took a seat and Moxxi got behind the bar table. Sasha turned red from Rhys' tone while gnawing on her bottom lip a little. Vaughn wasn't as pale anymore himself.

"You're impossible," Sasha said simply as she went back to her seat. "Anyway, what did take you two so long? Fiona said she saw you both and you looked like you were in the middle of something important, so she just came back." Moxxi mentally sighed in relief. She'd rather someone she doesn't even know know her feelings for the man sitting in front of her. Even he didn't quite know them yet.

"Important conversations. One that involves a little surprise for someone who shall not be named," Moxxi said.

"Aw, shucks. You guys shouldn't have," Rhys said in a mock bashful tone. Moxxi rolled her eyes along with Fiona and Sasha. They had the feeling they were going to be doing that for years. Or until their eyes got stuck like that.

"Actually, yes we should've. I mean, you're the one who spent millions of dollars on us," Gaige said idly, making Sasha suddenly spit out her drink. Unfortunately for Vaughn, she happened to be facing him at the time.

"Thanks... for that..." he trailed as Moxxi handed him a napkin to wipe his face off with.

"Sorry Vaughn. But... are you serious?" Sasha asked. Rhys then looked at Sasha with an unnaturally serious look.

"I think it's about time you know," he said, making her stomach drop. She had the feeling she was not going to like this. That feeling only sunk in more when he grabbed the hands of both Moxxi and Gaige.

"The three of us have got a relationship going. It's unusual, but it doesn't matter to us," Rhys said. Fiona looked at Rhys strangely. That's not what she heard a few moments ago. In fact, she heard that Gaige seemingly didn't want to get in between the two. Then she quickly understood that this was a joke.

"That's... damn," Vaughn said. "But congrats man."

"Why thank-" All of a sudden, Rhys stopped and he just started bursting out laughing. Gaige and Moxxi both followed soon after. Sasha's shocked expression was quickly replaced with an irritated one.

"I'm- I'm sorry. I just couldn't ho-hold it in," Rhys said in between laughs. "The l-look on your face! You looked like I offered to do oral surgery on you with a nail and a brick!" He only laughed harder after he said that. Even when Sasha punched him, he still didn't stop laughing.

"You know, that time away turned you into a real jackass," Sasha snapped. Rhys' laughs finally subsided and he managed to catch some air.

"Alright, I'm done. But seriously though. Polygamy just isn't my thing. Fun joke though. So glad that Gaige didn't spoil it," Rhys said with a nod in her direction.

"Ah, even I couldn't deny that this would be funny. And it was," Gaige said with a grin. She thought it was insane how much different Rhys was from when she first met him. She suppose she had Moxxi to thank for that. Not to mention herself and Zer0.

"I'm surrounded by a bunch of assholes," Sasha said moodily as she took a deep swig from her drink.

"Alright, I'm sorry Sasha. I suppose I oughta get to the story," Rhys said.

"That would be a good idea," Sasha said neutrally.

"Feel free to interject with questions and/or statements if you want," Rhys said before his face formed into a serious expression. One that just felt more intense than the one he faked for the joke.

"When the station crashed, Jack somehow still managed to stay alive through some of the programs that were still active. At one point, he kept me talking long enough to jam that port back into my head so he could get back in my cybernetics. He then proceeded to make me strangle myself with my robotic arm. I guess he was content with the fact that by killing himself, he was killing me. Guess he really hated me for ruining his plans for trying to return to power."

"Only way I could avoid him killing me was to get rid of my arm. So that's what I did. Forced it through an exposed piece of metal and ripped the thing off. Hurt like hell too. After I got it off, he told me that as long as those cybernetics were in me, he'd be in me forever. So I did what any person with no regard for their body and every regard for their sanity would do. Ripped out the information port as well as the eye." Fiona, Vaughn, and Sasha all hissed as a collective unit. Moxxi and Gaige had both heard the story, but their shoulders were still taut when he told this part.

"The eye couldn't have been easy," Sasha said.

"Surprisingly, it was less painful than the arm. Maybe I had less nerves there cause of all the surgery, I dunno. Anyway, after I crushed the eye, I just passed out. When I woke, I took the rights to Atlas from Jack's office, and somehow dragged myself the the Atlas base with the biodome and made myself another arm, information port, and eye. I preferred the dark yellow and silver over the Hyperion colors. Matches my image as the leader of Atlas much better. Not to mention it adds bonus badass points," Rhys said, flexing his metallic fingers in front of his mechanical eye. It really set a somewhat sinister image for him. As a man who ran an entire company by himself, he needed that image.

"Very much so. We didn't even recognize you until you turned around," Fiona said.

"You know, we kept that arm because we thought you were dead. It was the only thing we had of you," Vaughn said with a sad tone.

"Destroy it. If there's a chance that Jack could still be in there, I don't want to risk it. The port too if you have it," Rhys told him.

"First thing I do when I get back to Helios," Vaughn assured him. Rhys nodded before continuing.

"After that, I decided to get looking for you. I had no gun. Just a stun baton and a twisted sense of direction. That was when I ran into this lovely lady here," Rhys said, gesturing to Gaige. "She tried to kill me." Their eyes widened as they looked at Gaige, who smiled somewhat bashfully while shrugging.

"Hey, I thought he was just a bandit. Dressed better than your average bandit, but a bandit nonetheless. I'm embarrassed to say I'm the one who lost when I had the gun and the killer robot," Gaige said with a sigh.

"Hey, I'd say it was a tie. Depending on whether or not I searched your ECHO if I shot you, I wouldn't have found those hypos to heal me. Which in turn, would've killed me. Boom. Tie," Rhys said, holding his hands up like he was letting cars through on a four way or something.

"Just move on," Gaige told him.

"Yeah. Anyway, after we fought to a stalemate where I had her gun pointed at her head and I was bleeding from two bullets in my sternum, I decided not to kill her. I was just tired of killing. After all, to get rid of Handsome Jack, I had to kill more than a few of my coworkers. Or at least, that's what I was thinking at the time. So if I was going to bleed out and die on this shit stain of a planet, I was going to accept that," Rhys said in a surprisingly mellow tone.

"That's... kind of unbelievable," Fiona said.

"What can I say? I didn't like killing at the time," Rhys said, gratefully taking the next drink Moxxi handed him and taking a sip out of that before continuing. "I was surprised to see that Gaige decided to heal me and take me to the Raiders as a recruit. I remember I was nervous, but somewhat excited at the prospect of meeting the very people who brought the Jackass down.(That made Moxxi grin) Vault Hunters, leaders of the Raiders, didn't matter. Until I met them, that is."

"Gaige took me there to meet the bitch Lilith, the pathetic drunk Mordecai, and the steroid pumped Spiderant Brawler known as Brick." The thing that shocked Vaughn and the sisters the most was not his choice of wording, but the pure venom that was in his tone. Rhys hadn't even spoken of Vallory or the memory of Jack with such spite. It was hatred in its purest form.

"When I got there, I was nervous. I mean, how could I not be? I was ex-Hyperion and this was the very embodiment of anti-Hyperion. I knew things were going to be rough, but I figured that helping them with things they needed and with enough patience, I'd eventually get their trust. I was prepared to wait years, even a decade before they fully trusted me like they trusted their own. I was fine with that. I was not, however, prepared for what they gave me."

"Gaige told them that I was a new recruit for the Raiders. At one point, I mentioned that I used to be Hyperion. I got a reaction that was more cold than Three Horns Divide. I'm going to skip the part where we all began to squabble like a bunch of pissy skags and just skip to the part where I mentioned I wanted to announce my previous loyalties to the whole town."

"Why did you tell them? Why not just keep it under wraps?" Sasha asked.

"I thought about it. I knew it would be easier on me if I did that. But then I figured that to earn trust, sometimes you have to take the first step. So that's what I did. Maybe if I had just shut the fuck up, I wouldn't hate them as much as I do. Then again, I most likely wouldn't be where I'm at now. Running a company of my own with millions at my fingertips. With you all. With two Vault Hunters and Mad Moxxi. People I can say that are close to me and people that I would fight and die for and with." Gaige and Moxxi both smiled at his words. Gaige see what Moxxi meant about how genuine Rhys was. It was a really shining feature in a person. Too bad it was something a lot of people lacked.

"You're all that close?" Fiona asked.

"You'll find out why as I keep telling the story," Rhys said. Fiona nodded. She was certainly intrigued now.

"Anyway, my revelation to the town was less than favorable. First thing I thought about at the time was... well, Scooter," Rhys said, making Fiona stiffen as well as Sasha.

"Why him?" Fiona asked. Rhys then gestured to Moxxi, who didn't look affected visually, but her nails were digging into her palms. That was still a bit of a sore spot.

"You're looking at his mother," Rhys told them, making their eyes widen. Then Fiona remembered Scooter mentioned his mother when they were on the spaceship. The detail escaped Fiona. How on earth did Rhys remember?

Moxxi sighed as she put her hands on the table. The imprints left by her nails were still there. It didn't escape Rhys' attention.

"Even through his problems that he was sure to have for even daring to live there, he still had the thought of making sure I knew what happened to Scooter as a first priority," Moxxi said, looking at Rhys with a soft look that looked quite foreign on Moxxi's face. "I'll always appreciate that."

"You're very welcome," Rhys said before turning back to the others. "Anyway, after I did that, I got together with Gaige to work out a plan. I decided to head to the Atlas base down in Old Haven and grab some of the old stuff that was in the armory. Hell of a lot of weapons to. Had to put ECHOs into ECHOs into more ECHOs. There were _that_ many guns. Even then, I missed a few rooms."

"Can I take a few?" Sasha questioned with a grin, making Rhys smile gently as well.

"Maybe on Mercenary Day," Rhys said, his expression changing into a teasing smirk in a second flat. Sasha only rolled her eyes.

"I took the ECHOs, brought it back to Sanctuary, and..." A soft caw rang through the air and Rhys smiled. "I know that sound." Through the open door, in flew Talon and he landed on Rhys' shoulder in a very casual manner.

"Talon? The hell?" Gaige asked.

"I had the strangest feeling he would eventually show up. That's why no alarms rang out or he's turret fodder right now. I have his signature cause he flew into one of my machines once. I'm glad digistruct technology doesn't work on organic things that have heartbeats. Cause I like this bird too damn much to let that happen," Rhys said, stroking his metal finger along Talon's neck. The bird cooed in response. Gaige had never heard Talon _coo._ It was honestly throwing to see.

"You do realize this is the bird that's about as gentle to most people as a buzz axe is to flesh?" Gaige said, making Talon caw at her defensively.

"Well, he certainly likes me. I am irresistible after all," Rhys said. Sasha and Fiona both had to restrain themselves from rolling their eyes again. Vaughn's attention was more focused on the bird.

"Never seen a bird like that," he said.

"I haven't either until I showed up in Sanctuary. Don't know where Mordecai find these birds, but I certainly like this one. He certainly prefers me over him," Rhys said before his arm beeped. The noise startled Talon and he removed his, well, talons out of Rhys' metal arm while flying in the air and looking at his arm with a type of hostility.

"Calm down boy," Rhys said as he viewed the cameras.

"Visitor?" Gaige asked.

"Yup. Looks like Axton. He's placing his turret and ECHO on the ground," Rhys said, tilting his head in curiosity.

"That was me. I told him to contact me if he wanted to join us. When he was absolutely sure. He told me he was, so this is the result," Gaige said, gesturing to his camera feed.

"Well, it doesn't look like a mistake so far. One second," Rhys said, getting to his feet. Sasha groaned before taking another sip from her drink. Only to find that it was empty.

"You gotta pay if you want another one this time," Moxxi told her.

"How much?" Sasha asked.

"Ten bucks," Moxxi said. Sasha wordlessly put the money on the table and instantly took a drink from the lager Moxxi slid in her direction.

"Maybe Rhys had a point about you being hammered before the story's even over," Fiona told her sister, who only glared in response.

"This is only my third drink," Sasha said defensively. Moxxi sighed before starting to wipe the counters down while Gaige stretched and did her best to make sure not to fall off the chair in the process.

* * *

"Inside. Bring your stuff," Rhys said as he gestured Axton inside. He nodded and followed Rhys. He was definitely a lot different than the guy who was just trying to settle into Sanctuary. More confident. And by the looks of things, a lot more dangerous.

"Take a seat," Rhys said once he lead him into his office. Axton took the nearest seat from the exit and sat down in it. Rhys didn't sit in his chair, however. He stayed standing.

"Why are you here?" he asked him.

"I'm looking to join you," Axton said in a somewhat obvious tone.

"You think it's just that easy?" Rhys asked, idly tracing a metal finger along Axton's Sabre Turret device.

"By the way Gaige made it sound, yeah. I did," Axton said, trying not to be nervous. He might have just put himself in a situation that he couldn't get out of.

"Gaige may be my friend, but I tend to take more care than she does. So Axton..." Rhys trailed before putting his hands on his desk with enough force to make an impression. "Tell me. Why should I let you into this city knowing fully well that you could be a spy for the Raiders? Getting information so they can launch a collective assault here?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on now. Now, I know concerning you, you have no reason to believe anything I say. But you can believe me when I saw I wouldn't do anything like that to Gaige. She'd be killed just like everyone here. I don't want to be an accessory to that," Axton said, waving his arms like he was a football ref signaling that a field goal was no good.

Rhys leaned closer from his desk and gave him a hard stare. Axton would be lying if he said his stare didn't make him at least a little uncomfortable. It was that piercing stare that strangely reminded Axton of his ex-wife when she was trying to see through one of his lies.

"You'd get along nicely with my ex-wife Sarah. You both have the same stare when you're trying to catch me in a lie," Axton said idly as to try and break some of the tension.

"I'm not even going to comment on that." Axton noticed the way Rhys'+ shoulders eased when he said that, so he figured it worked. "In any case, I believe you when it comes to Gaige. So that negates you coming here as a spy. So tell me. Why did you leave the Raiders?"

"They were trying to turn a Vault Hunter into a soldier," Axton said simply.

"Coming from a person who was exiled from the Dahl military due to not taking orders and doing things his own way, you weren't going to stand for that," Rhys said, now deciding to sit down.

"No. Felt like being in the military all over again. I wanted out. So I came here," Axton said.

"Vault Hunters have a place here. They come and go as they please. I'll only ask for your services when there's a job I don't feel like doing myself or I'm just preoccupied. It may be grunt work. It may involve shooting stuff multiple times. Nevertheless, you are free to take other jobs on the bounty board as you wish," Rhys explained to him. "I'm guessing that's what they're not letting you do?"

"They're taking all of our time looking for you. I don't know what Lilith has got planned when she finds you, but it's certainly not going to work out for your well being," Axton said. Rhys frowned in dissatisfaction.

"So she is looking for us. Tell me, has she made any recent changes to things?" he asked.

"She's building numbers as far as the regular infantry goes. She's got Mordecai and Brick using old Hyperion bases and bandit camps as training grounds for soldiers. So far they've got posts set up in Three Horns, The Dust, and the Highlands. She even decided to take advantage of the big bandit camp in Three Horns Valley. You know the one?" Axton asked.

"No. Never stopped by there myself," Rhys said.

"Well, I have. We raided it during the war to look for Roland. It's almost full. And trust me when I say this. That's a big outpost," Axton said.

"Give me an estimate of how many numbers she has for infantry. Doesn't matter if it's accurate or not. Just give me a relative amount," Rhys said.

"Somewhere in the range of five hundred soldiers. Bandits, idle survivors, you name it. She's taking all the help she can get," Axton told him. "If she finds you, you better have a plan."

"I'll be building a military soon. This changes the game entirely. We need to lock off spots for us. I'll take advantage of the Wildlife Preserve, Eridium Blight, Arid Nexus, and anywhere I can get. If you're willing, I could use your help in training some of these soldiers," Rhys said, beginning to furiously type on the computer.

"I'm willing, but you did say I have the option of when I want to do it, right?" Axton asked, grabbing his gear off the table.

"Of course," Rhys said.

"Then I'm in. Get the numbers and I'll be able to whip them into shape. They'll be good defenders," Axton assured Rhys, who nodded in satisfaction.

"Good. The only one you have to listen to in regards to the military is me, General," Rhys said, making Axton smile. High ranking from just training the soldiers. He liked the fact that he was going to be in command for once.

"General Axton. I like that. Alright, you got a deal... Atlas," Axton said, holding out his hand. Rhys looked from his computer and stood before shaking Axton's hand with his human one, who was surprised to find that Rhys' grip was relatively firm.

"Alright. Now continue as you usually do. I'll get an ad for soldiers soon. I'll notify you if and when the situation changes. Tell Moxxi to meet me here. There's a deal I need to work out with her daughter's ownership of the Catch-A-Ride stations. Soon, the soldiers will be able to drive around in some vehicles more... suited for war. She's in the bar," Rhys said, making Axton nod.

"Alright, I'll do that," he said, walking off. Rhys rubbed his temples. War was not something he wanted. Far from it. War brought suffering no matter which side you picked. And that was something Rhys didn't want to do. But if necessary, he would do it. He didn't bother them at all since he left Sanctuary, and he planned on keeping it that way. But he doubted they're going to let bygones be bygones. So he had to prepare at the very least. So he began to get an ad made for soldiers.

* * *

"Yeah, Rhys?" Gaige asked over the ECHO. She found it strange that he hadn't come back down yet.

 _"You know that tech you said you could repurpose? Looks like I'm going to need it sooner than later. I'll pay you for it when I can,"_ Rhys told her. Gaige could hear the stress in his tone. And that worried her.

"I'll get it to you for free this time. Rhys, what's wrong?" Gaige asked in a concerned tone. Her tone got everyone's attention. Things did not sound good at all.

There was a pause before Rhys spoke.

 _"I'll fill you in on it later. Can you get me the tech?"_ he asked.

"Yeah. Should only take me a couple of hours. I'll need a couple ECHOs to carry it all though," Gaige said.

 _"Check the armory. There are a quite a few down there. Conveniently, I missed a few rooms cause that armory is so damn big,"_ Rhys said.

"I'll handle it. Don't worry," Gaige assured him.

 _"Thanks,"_ Rhys said before shutting the call off. Everyone was looking at Gaige with an expectant look.

"What was that all about?" Fiona asked.

"I have no idea. Whatever it is though, it doesn't sound good," Gaige said, walking out of the bar. Soon after she left, Axton walked inside. By the look of his ECHO back on his belt, Rhys let him stay. Possibly hired him.

"Moxxi, Rhys needs to see you. He said something about working out a deal with Ellie's ownership of the Catch-A-Rides. I guess he needs you there as a type of mediator," Axton told her.

"Axton, what's going on?" Moxxi asked. Axton noticed the unnaturally serious expression on her face. Looks like Rhys wasn't the only one who changed.

"By the looks of things, he's preparing for war," he told her. "I told him all about the stuff the Raiders were up to as far as building their military and Lilith having us look for him."

Vaughn, Fiona, Sasha, and Moxxi looked at each other worriedly. If that was in fact the case, Rhys had to be worried. Everything he worked for... Everyone he cared about... could all be destroyed if the Raiders had their way. I mean, that's what everyone knew Rhys was more than likely thinking.

"Oh, man," Vaughn said, rubbing his forehead. "Another war?"

"And it's not like the one with Hyperion. We won't be the sideliners who just happen to suffer from it. We'll be in the dead center of it," Sasha said.

"This is not good at all," Moxxi said with a hand over her mouth. Then she walked out to head towards Rhys' office. Fiona looked towards Axton.

"He say anything about us?" she asked him.

"Not as of now. I think he just wants you to stay put for now until everything's all sorted out," Axton said.

"Athena's guess may have been right. The war isn't going to be from some foreign power. It's going to be right here. Directly in the heart of Pandora," Fiona said.

"I don't know why finding you all was so important. I mean, I don't think she found out he owns Atlas," Axton said, frowning in displeasure. "Amazing. We won the war with Hyperion a few years ago. Now I'm going to be fighting the people that I was banded with in a different war."

"And this war isn't going to be pretty. By the sound of things with Rhys, it's personal. And the viciousness of situations increase that much more when it's personal," Vaughn added.

"He's starting to get a military going now. This information made him set on making that move," Axton said.

"He doesn't deserve to have to go through this," Sasha said.

"Since when has fate ever been kind to good people?" Vaughn questioned rhetorically, albeit somewhat bitterly. After that, there was nothing left but a grim silence.


	19. Chapter 19 - Delayed News

"We have a deal then?" Rhys asked.

"Uh huh. Five million for letting you add your vehicle to the Catch-A-Ride system. But if you want that code wall, you're going to have to design it yourself," Ellie told him.

"Already done. Once I have the vehicle prepared, I'll send it your way and have it scanned along with the coding and everything needed to make sure not just anyone can access it," Rhys told her. "The money will be sent along the ECHOnet to your ECHO soon."

"Well, I suppose Scooter would be proud to see his business get several million dollars richer. I'm glad you let us know about him as well. I appreciate that," Ellie said, making Rhys smile softly.

"Of course. It would be doing you all a disservice. You, Moxxi, and Scooter," he said.

"You doing alright out here?" Moxxi asked her daughter.

"No incidents since the Raiders set up shop out here. They wanted to put soldiers here in my garage, but I told them no. I told them that I can take care of myself," Ellie said, her tone getting somewhat heated. Moxxi already knew how her daughter felt in that case. "But they've been keeping the remaining bandits here in line."

"That's good. Stay safe, you hear?" Moxxi said, hugging her daughter.

"Course momma," Ellie said. Rhys smiled at the sight. It was a heartwarming sight to see a mother and daughter together like this. As they let each other go, Ellie looked at Rhys.

"You take care of my momma, ya hear?" she told him.

"Of course. Believe me, I do plan on treating her real nice," Rhys said with a genuine smile. Ellie was able to hide her reaction well. She heard a boyfriend-ish sort of style in his words. Ellie wasn't exactly surprised, but this one seemed different than most of the men her momma dated. And not just the fact that he looked around her age.

"Good. Because otherwise you'll be next for the grinder," Ellie said, pointing to the machine in question. Rhys looked at the item in question idly.

"The grinder, huh? That sounds like it would cause more pleasure than pain," he said with a grin. Ellie gave him a narrow eyed stare before looking at Moxxi, who only shrugged.

"Hey, I can't help that he picked up my habit," she said.

"Just go ahead and go before I tie him to a vending machine," Ellie said.

"Hmm. Kinky," Rhys said. Then he immediately had to run the Fast Travel while laughing to get back to Old Haven. Ellie sure could move fast for her size. He wasn't exactly intimidated by the large woman, but he certainly didn't feel like nursing any injuries. He didn't want to hurt her, but she wouldn't spare him the same kindness.

"I don't like when you start with innuendo, much less listen to someone else say it," Ellie said with minor irritation.

"Be nice, huh? He's a good person," Moxxi told her daughter.

"Ah, so you're having sex with him," Ellie said, purposely not phrasing it as a question.

"This may shock you, but no. We're not," Moxxi told her daughter. Ellie looked at the Fast Travel before looking back at her mother.

"Does he bat for the other team?" Ellie asked, making Moxxi glare at her daughter. "I'm just asking."

"He's different," she told her.

"Being gay is technically being different," Ellie told her mother.

"I'm talking about different as in morals and such," Moxxi said.

"People still have morals?" Ellie asked, making her mother chuckle a bit.

"Apparently, they do. Even me, to a certain extent. We're taking it slow," Moxxi said.

"I would never associate you and the words, 'taking it slow.' Not in a million years," Ellie said.

"First time for everything. Like I said, he's different. Special. As far as the sex, we'll work on it," Moxxi said.

"Ah. So he's a fresh one," Ellie said in a tone of realization, making Moxxi pinch her nose.

"You're not getting the point. This is someone who I actually believe I could marry. In my lifetime, there haven't been many people I felt confident about marrying," Moxxi said, her tone more serious than before. Ellie noticed something with how her mother defended her claims. She sounded passionate about this. She had been around when she married her third husband. She seemed set on doing it, but nowhere near this intense. Her mother seemed, dare she say it, head over heels for this guy. Usually it was the other way around.

"In any case, I may be looking at another father," Ellie said.

"More than likely, yes. But unlike them, this one will be here to stay," Moxxi said.

"That's good news I suppose. After I get over the fact that I have to call a man my age 'dad.' And are you sure he can handle running a company by himself? He didn't look like too much other than a smooth talker," Ellie said.

"Don't let the suit fool you. He can definitely handle himself. Both concerning the more bookish aspects of running a company as well as the more violent ones. You know Zer0 taught him?" Moxxi told her.

"The ninja guy, right?" Ellie questioned. Moxxi nodded, making Ellie let out a low whistle. "He looks like the type to work alone. But if he trained him, he'll definitely be able to handle himself. Is he just as set on finding something that challenges him as well?"

"He's more set on trying to get his company together. He's not looking for trouble, but will deal with it accordingly," Moxxi said.

"I'll say. He showed me the plans of what he was building for his soldiers. It'll make the cars we're used to driving on Pandora look like itty bitty children's cars. He managed to combine something you like and something I like into one thing," Ellie said, making Moxxi raise an eyebrow. "Me, cars. You, technology. Not to mention a ton of weapons on the thing. If he had been running Hyperion's tech and weapons construction during the war, we would've had a hell of a harder time beating em."

"I can definitely believe that. He's pretty brilliant in his own right," Moxxi said with a grin. "Also, in a few days, I'm gonna send you coordinates for a Fast Travel location. There's something... interesting going on."

"Interesting?" Ellie questioned.

"Remember the Underdome?" Moxxi asked.

"It's coming back?" Ellie asked, making her mother nod with a wide smile on her face. "I'll be there. I'll also place a few bets if your new boyfriend's going to be in it."

"He said he might join in. One thing is for sure. He's going to be in the booth commentating," Moxxi said.

"Normally you're the only one who does it. What changed?" Ellie asked.

"Normally. But he said he wanted to do it, I thought it would be kinda fun, and he also footed the bill for the Underdome. Disagreeing wasn't really on my mind," Moxxi said, making Ellie's eyebrows raise high.

"He bought you the Underdome you've been wanting for the longest just for hooking up with him?" she asked.

"Actually, he bought me this before there was even any physical relationship between us. He bought this for friendship if you can even believe it. Did the same thing with Gaige and Zer0. Their presents weren't quite as expensive as mine, but it was what they wanted, so he got them what they wanted," Moxxi explained.

"Think he'll buy me some more property if I promise not to tie him to a vending machine?" Ellie asked, making her mother roll her eyes. She couldn't deny that this was her daughter from that comment.

"He'll probably let you do that just for the jokes he can make. The setting on fire part is where he'll draw the line," Moxxi told her. "And I highly doubt that. We earned our place into his hearts. We stuck with him even considering all the Raiders were against him. I doubt you can really match up to that."

"Fair nuff," Ellie said with an unaffected shrug.

"Alright, it's about time I get back. Do us a favor and don't tell the Raiders we were here," Moxxi said.

"I don't like those hoity toity assholes anyway. Insisting that I can't handle myself cause of my weight," Ellie said before pausing in a type of realization. "Speaking of which, I'm surprised you haven't mentioned that once."

"You can thank Rhys for that. We've talked a bit about family matters. I told him about my issue, or at least he calls it an issue, with your weight and he convinced me to let it go. Even I'm amazed that he managed it, but he did," Moxxi said as an afterthought.

"Wow. He must be something to do that. What exactly did he say to you?" Ellie asked.

"He asked me two questions. 'Is it a hazard to her health? Is she happy the way she is?' I answered no to the first, yes to the second. Though that was somewhat debatable in my mind as to what exactly 'happy' was," Moxxi said with finger quotes. "Then he told me, 'In that case, just let her be. You can't change someone that doesn't want to be changed. You can't change them for them. They have to change them for them.' Sound logic, I have to admit."

"You weren't lying when you said he was a bright one," Ellie said.

"Told you. At any rate, I suppose I'm not happy with the way you see things, but I can live with it thanks to him," Moxxi told him.

"Maybe I won't mind calling him dad after all," Ellie said in a type of afterthought. She wasn't quite sure she meant that considering she was probably older than him. Maybe by a year or two, but it still counted.

"He'll appreciate the gesture. And I do too. I'm glad you're becoming accustomed to this," Moxxi said with a pleased nod.

"Ah, well. He's already better than over half the losers you've dated. Even three quarters, really. I suppose the only guy I really liked was that Mordecai fella. And couple of those other guys I can't remember the name of," Ellie said. "But for now, you two are 'taking it slow.' Again, I would never associate those words when it comes to you."

"I've teased him about it enough, but I can't say I'm regretting the decision. Much," Moxxi said. Ellie already knew what her mother meant by that. If it were up to her, she'd probably jump his bones every night. She knew her mother. "Anyway, bye honey. Hope to see you at the Underdome."

"Bye momma," Ellie said as her mother used the Fast Travel to get back to Old Haven. She was glad Rhys made each and every one of them remember Old Haven's Fast Travel code. Because Rhys wiped it as soon as he traveled himself.

* * *

"Fucking hell... Damned adapter... Get... in... there..." Rhys said as he tried to fit the adapter into the back of the missile launcher.

"Should I even say it?" Sasha asked as she walked into the garage.

"Please do. I could use a joke," Rhys said as he finally snapped the adapter into place. "Finally."

"Just what are you even doing?" Sasha asked. She saw that Rhys was working at a desk like he was a mechanic fixing a part. He then held out the missile launcher to show her for a brief second before moving to place it on some strange platform that was being supported by a crane.

"Working on something. If you wanna stay and chat, you gotta be willing to work too," Rhys told her, making Sasha groan.

"Fine. What can I do?" she asked.

"Sit there and look pretty," he said with a wry smirk, making her look at him with a glare and put her hands on her hips. "That'll do it. Nice job."

"No wonder you and Moxxi get along so well. Jesus," Sasha said, shaking her head.

"What can I say? She's somehow made me to be just like her. Kinda fun. But I'm still me, and that's what matters," Rhys said as he grabbed several bunches of metal. Sasha couldn't help but eye his muscled arm. It was pretty damn astonishing to see on Rhys. Not to mention just hot in general.

"Lot of training," Rhys said without even turning. Sasha quickly darted her eyes back to Rhys' face.

"Come again?" she asked.

"You were looking at my human arm. The muscle comes from a lot of training. Given by Zer0 himself. What I don't have in his speed, I make up for it in muscle he doesn't have. That's how he did things," Rhys told her.

"So you're not all that fast?" Sasha asked.

"What I don't have in _his_ speed. I'm fast. Just not as fast as him," Rhys corrected her while using his blade to cut some of the metal. He had to grind his blade somewhat just for it to penetrate the tough metal, but he eventually got it. Whatever Zer0 made his swords out of, it sure was powerful. To even get through this type of metal was amazing.

"Oh. Just how fast?" Sasha asked. Rhys restrained himself from following up on that with a filthy joke.

"Pretty fast. I can run a mile in about fifteen minutes. I'm fast enough to catch a bullet when it's fired ten meters from me. I can deflect attacks from every direction when I'm surrounded without losing composure. That's about an estimate," he told her, making her eyes widen.

"And did you say he was _faster?"_ Sasha questioned.

"He can run a mile in less than eight minutes when he wants to move fast. He can, well not catch cause he doesn't have my prosthetic, but deflect a bullet when it's fired a meter from him. As far as being surrounded, they'll be lucky if their hands even move an inch before it's been intercepted by his sword. He's the definition of speed," Rhys explained to her.

"You're not kidding," Sasha said with an impressed tone as he began to form the metal. The hull of the car was starting to come together. Not as thick as it was going to be, but at least it was there with the rest of the machinery underneath. "Are you building a car?"

"Of sorts. It's going to be the ultimate car. Going to make those Technicals we normally drive in look like jokes," Rhys said without his face even twitching to show he was joking. That reminded Sasha about what Axton told them.

"The soldier guy told us about what he knows concerning the Raiders. I know you're worried," she told him. He stiffened for less than a second before grabbing the tires for the vehicle.

"I have every right to be. I have everything to lose if they get us," Rhys told her, confirming her suspicions.

"I know that. I just don't want it to make you crazy paranoid," Sasha said.

"It won't. I just feel the need to rush and prepare. Gun hands, weaponry, land. We need it all. And we have to make sure it's better than anything the Raiders can prepare. It's why I'm making this. It's made only for us. It'll annihilate those Technicals they'll still be riding in. We'll control the land. Eventually, we will dominate the skies. They'll either surrender or die," Rhys explained, screwing in the wheels of the vehicle now. "To be honest, I'm not holding my breath for the first option."

Then he began to climb and connect the metal to cover the top while having his ECHO arm connected to the crane carrying the weapons platform. Sasha moved closer to him and put an arm on his shoulder when he moved lower to connect another piece of metal. He froze as he connected the next piece of metal before simply shrugging her hand off, making Sasha sigh.

"Where's Vaughn?" she asked.

"Handling some work for me. So is Cassius," Rhys said gruffly as the weapon platform for the car came down with a clank. "Hand me that cannon on the far table. It's pretty heavy. Do me a favor and don't drop it. If you can't handle it, let me know."

"Alright," Sasha said in a somewhat resigned tone before grabbing the cannon. She let off a grunt when she started to lift the gun. He wasn't lying. This thing was heavy. Luckily, she was stronger than she looked. And Rhys seemed to know that.

"Thank you," Rhys said, taking the gun from her hands with significantly less effort and placing it on the platform. Sasha took a few steps back before looking at the whole thing. The platform he placed had a minigun and a missile launcher. Not to mention the big ass cannon he had her lug over here.

He fit the cannon on the center portion and it locked in place with a snap. It was quite a combination of weapons. He wasn't lying when he said that it would make those Technicals look like jokes.

"Your friend told me I'd find you in here," Moxxi said before whistling at the sight of the vehicle. "Nice. You know, women put out for a guy with wheels." To Sasha's surprise, instead of his somewhat churlish style of communication, he smiled.

"I would certainly hope so. Then again, I don't really need the wheels, do I?" Rhys questioned. That sentence caught Sasha's attention. The uneasy feeling settled when she gave Rhys a flirty smile. Then again, she remembered how they were joking back when they were in the bar. It's just how they worked.

"No, you definitely don't. Little steps though. Little steps," Moxxi said before looking at Sasha while pointing a thumb at Rhys. "I gotta break this one in. He's not trained in my field of art yet."

"As of right now, you're not getting him to budge at all. After the news that soldier gave us..." Sasha trailed in a worried tone. Moxxi quickly looked at Rhys, whose shoulders were taut.

"What'd he tell you?" she asked in a concerned tone.

"The Raiders are starting to build more numbers in infantry as well as make settlements wherever they can on Pandora. Not only that, but they've actually got the Vault Hunters looking for us," Rhys asked before turning to Moxxi with a hesitant look on his face. "Did you, er... tell the Raiders I owned Atlas?"

"No, of course not. Even at the time when I didn't particularly like you. I didn't think you could make much of the company while we kept an eye on you. So I didn't feel the need to tell them," Moxxi told him.

"Then considering I gave them what they wanted and left, why are they looking for me still?" Rhys asked. "Do you think it has something to do with me having Gaige and Zer0?"

"How did you get them to join you? I mean, you never did finish the story because the arrival of our guests," Sasha said, making Talon caw at her in a somewhat hostile fashion from over in the corner where he was watching the entire time.

"Let's just say shit hit the fan and sides had to be chosen. Gaige, Zer0, and Moxxi just happened to take my side at the time," Rhys told her.

"Don't regret the side I chose either," Moxxi said, making Rhys smile.

"It's good to have people who can get their heads out of their ass and see me for who I am. As Rhys, and not as just some Hyperion. To be fair, Fiona and Sasha were the first ones to do so," Rhys said, making Sasha smile.

"Well, it's not too hard once you get past all the Jack... ness," she said, making him smile wider.

"That's gone now. I don't care for the bastard anymore. Now I prefer..." Rhys said before giving off a grunt of effort to seal the last magnetic lock in place to the car. "...I prefer being my own person. Making my own decisions. Seeing things for what they truly are."

"You've definitely changed Rhys," Sasha said. But rather, a soft smile was on her face rather than more worrying thoughts when she said that.

"For the better, I think," Rhys said.

"Couldn't agree more. Cause you still would've wanted to be like Jack. And then I would hate you," Moxxi said.

"I'd hate me too if I wanted to be like that asshole. A murderer with some twisted hero complex. Though I sort of can't blame some people for believing in Jack. History is written by the victors. At the time, Jack was the victor; he was on top. So we all believed his story. We believed he was this hero; this god among men. Never knowing that he was a monster. A deceiver. A coward. Even when faced with the obvious signs that he was," Rhys said, taking a long look at the car. "Still need to get that thruster on the back. Just makes an awkward gaping hole at the back without it."

"Gaige has already finished it. I can bring the ECHO she..."

"No need," Gaige said, coming in with the ECHO in hand and releasing the parts on a table. "I thought you'd be done soon. All you gotta do is install it properly."

"Thanks. I'm a bit swamped with this shit," Rhys said, rubbing his eyes. Moxxi held his shoulders and sat him down. Gaige and Sasha both watched as Moxxi look at the man next to her with a type of softness.

"Sit down for a moment. You've been working for hours," she said, making him smirk.

"What, are you gonna play the role of loving wife now?" Rhys questioned with a raised eyebrow. Moxxi laughed airily before kissing him on the cheek. That sinking feeling returned in the pit of Sasha's stomach, only ten times worse.

"I've done a lot of cosplay. Whatever's right for the mood," Moxxi said with a smirk before she sobered up. "I know you're worried. We all do. We all know what you're thinking."

"To think they just don't want to let me go. They just want to take everything I care about, huh? All cause of my past, huh?" Rhys said, beginning to chuckle. The chuckle grew in volume to the point where it was almost a laugh.

Then, with the force of a bullet, Rhys threw his toolbox into the wall. It made a reverberating sound when it hit the wall while leaving a crack. Talon screeched loudly as that had come quite close to the perch he was on. Rhys put his hands on the side of the desk where Gaige put the ECHO containing the thruster and looked at the wall like it was a TV screen showing everything that was going on inside his mind.

"There's only so much you can do. I gave them peace. I gave them help. I gave them my loyalty. Was it enough? No. Nothing I could ever do for them is enough. No, they just see Handsome Jack's name stamped at the top of my forehead," Rhys growled before angrily getting away from the desk and moving to Moxxi. Any other onlooker would've thought that he would focus his anger on her, but she knew better. He was just venting at this point.

"You despised me when I first arrived and Gaige tried to kill me upon seeing me. And look at where we are now. You both stuck by my side, regardless of what the Raiders wanted. You would think after that type of change of heart you two had, taking into account everything you've done against Hyperion, they would change, but no. _Oh no._ Hyperions are scumbags, and they always will be to them," Rhys said, beginning to put the thruster in the vehicle. "Oh, but they'll learn alright. They'll learn that I'm something different than what Jack was. Gaige?"

"Uh, yeah?" she asked, somewhat hesitantly. She felt a little uneasy with some of Rhys' actions lately. She knew he was acting off of fear mostly. One thing she knew about actions like those was that they could make you do whatever you could to prevent those fears from becoming reality. No matter how extreme the methods were.

"Get those recon drones out there and set them to bug the Raiders' bases. I wanna know everything that comes out of their mouths," Rhys told her while still inserting the thruster in. Gaige nodded before looking at her friend with a sympathetic look before looking away. Then the man in question locked the thruster in the back before collapsing in the one chair in the room. If he looked stressed before, he sure as hell did now.

"Um... I think I'll go see if Fiona wants to go on another job," Sasha said somewhat awkwardly. She knew that Moxxi had the Underdome ready, but she felt she needed to find some excuse to get out of here. Just seeing him stressed like this was making her uncomfortable.

"Yeah, see you when you get back," Rhys said as he rubbed his temples.

"Come on sugar. You're done here," Moxxi said, pulling him by his arm to get him out of the lab. But Rhys dug his feet into the floor. Moxxi couldn't even get him out of the chair when he did that.

"I still need to handle..."

"No. You need to stop worrying," Moxxi interrupted him firmly. "And I got the perfect solution. I'm starting the Underdome up today."

"I can assume that this was conveniently timed," Rhys said.

"You would be correct. I'm glad you know me better than to just start the Underdome because you're a bit down," Moxxi said with a smile. "Now if you want, you can just get some killing done rather than just commentating. We can save that for another show."

"Oh, no. The world is going to know who I am. And who I'm with," Rhys said, a smile finally coming on to his face as he pulled her close.

"That's going to be an interesting way to tell your friends you're dating a such a sexy woman," Moxxi said with a smirk.

"Personally, it's the best course of action. I'd rather not hear their lip about the age difference yet. That's most likely where they're going to start once they find out. I don't need the extra stress. I wanna relax a little before I have to deal with that," Rhys said, using his metal hand to move a strand of hair from the front of her face. "And yes. I do plan on getting a little killing in. I also thought you'd be interested to know that I've added a second little addition to the Underdome scene."

"Oh?" Moxxi questioned.

"Uh huh. There's the second part of the arena for nothing but fighting. No guns, but there will be swords, knives, buzz axes and the like available for someone to pick. If anyone's a badass or think they are, they'll go bare knuckle brawling. I'm sure the people will appreciate seeing someone get beat to death," Rhys said, saying the last sentence with a dry tone.

"Not a bad idea. For now though, we'll start with the guns. That's what the Underdome is primarily known for, so that's what we'll do. We may introduce the second part the next day, see what the reception is, and then keep doing it," Moxxi explained.

"Look you. Sounding so businesswoman like," Rhys said with a teasing tone. "I'm so proud."

"I knew all about the business side of things when you were still playing with children's toys. Trust me, I know how to run my Underdome sugar," Moxxi assured him before putting an arm around the back of his head and speaking with a sultry tone. "And when we get back, your lessons start immediately. That is, if you're not tired when we get back."

"One of my many talents is the ability to last long. Trust me, I'll be fine," Rhys assured her.

"Was that innuendo, the truth, or both?" Moxxi asked. "I honestly couldn't tell."

"Both, really. I can't resist following up when you start," Rhys said before Moxxi pressed her lips against his. There was far less hesitation than when they were in Rhys' office, and he gladly took heart.

Both of their tongues wrapped around each other almost like they were tying a knot with them. Moxxi held the back of his head with one hand while the other one guided Rhys' human hand to her right breast. On the closest bit of reflex he had, he squeezed, making Moxxi groan in the kiss.

 _"Mmm. By how fast he's learning, it may not be long before we start having sex,"_ she thought before she began to start roaming her hands all over his body. Her hands went for the center of his shirt and she was about to open it as he moved her onto the desk while breaking no contact.

"Are you two trying to swallow each other?" Fiona asked dryly, who was standing in the doorway. Moxxi groaned in exasperation as well as Rhys before they got up.

"Thanks for interrupting us. Had you given us a few minutes, I think one of us would've been happily settled in the other's stomach, thank you very much," Rhys said with a haughty tone. To his mild surprise, Fiona didn't seem shocked that she walked in on the both of them like this.

"This is probably somewhat of a good thing. We'll be late for the Underdome," Moxxi said, trying to straighten herself up. The puffy lips were always the hardest part. She loved that he kissed hard as hell.

"Can't have too much of a good thing, I guess," Rhys said with a sigh as he covered the car. Then the three of them decided to head downstairs.

Fiona frowned as she watched the smiling couple walk in front of her. She knew what was going on between the two, but the others didn't. Just what were they playing at? Why were they waiting to tell people?

"You ready for the Underdome?" Rhys asked Fiona, craning his neck as he was walking to look at her. She had to somewhat force a smile. She actually was excited to get front row seats to an Underdome show, but then she was thinking about how her sister would feel about this situation in front of her. Tackling the second thing was first on her mind.

"Rhys, uh, could I talk to you for a moment?" Fiona asked.

"Judging by the tone, you want to talk to me by myself?" Rhys questioned rhetorically. Fiona rolled her eyes, but nodded. He then looked at Moxxi.

"Go ahead and head for the Underdome with the others. This shouldn't take but a few minutes," Rhys told her. Moxxi nodded and glanced at Fiona with a look akin to a sharp blade. Didn't take a genius to know what that look meant.

"Alright, go ahead," Rhys asked, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed as soon as Moxxi disappeared behind the corner.

"Just what are you playing at with Moxxi?" Fiona asked, making him raise an eyebrow.

 _"Excuse_ me?" Rhys questioned in an offended tone. "You must have me mistaken with someone else. I don't play games with anyone." Fiona realized how that sounded, and she couldn't blame him for being offended.

"I phrased that wrong. Sorry. I mean..."

"Be clear as to what you mean," Rhys said, his arms crossed.

"Sasha," Fiona said, making Rhys open his mouth in an 'ah' fashion.

"What about her? And yes," Rhys said quickly, cutting Fiona off before she could speak again. "I haven't been paying attention. I've been too busy to pay attention to the changes that happen with other people."

"I know my sister. She's giving you those little side glances when you're not looking. She thought you died, you know. I've hardly seen her that upset. When we felt we had to give up looking for you," Fiona told him. Rhys looked down at the ground, his look truly sad.

"There were a few times I wanted to give up. It was hard to hold hope. Especially while living in Sanctuary at the time. But at the same time, it's like there was that little bit of desperate hope that I kept hanging onto. I couldn't believe that you all were dead. I couldn't," he said, looking away from her. "Glad I didn't."

"I've seen the googly eyes you made at her before that space station went down. Made me sick at the time, but looking back, I wish you two did sort of you know... got together. I think you were her best chance at a relationship," Fiona said.

"I'm not the only who would find her personality attractive. And her appearance, for that matter. You act like I'm the only one who would want your sister," Rhys told her.

"You're probably not, but you're the only one I feel like I could remotely trust not to hurt her. Intentionally, at least," Fiona said. The sincere tone she used is what had Rhys' attention the entire time. She truly meant the words she spoke. It looked like she had definitely grown to like Rhys more on friendly terms. Even when they had grown to like each other more before Helios went down, it wasn't like this.

"I feel like I should tell her we're together. I've kind of been holding it off, I know. That's because I feel like you would all give me headache on the age difference between us. I expected lip from mostly you," Rhys said, pointing at her.

"Considering my sister still likes you, and you happen to be in a relationship with Mad Moxxi, I think the age difference between you two is the least of my worries," Fiona said. "But then again, I think you were right. What is she, twenty years older than you?"

"Seventeen, actually. I don't care about the age difference. I do care about her, and she cares about me. I don't give a damn what people think about it," Rhys said in a gruff tone.

"That's a good thing for you. Because the talk will come. But concerning Sasha..." Fiona said, making Rhys stomp his foot in slight frustration.

"Should not have told her to take the others. Would've talked to her. Dammit," Rhys said, shaking his head.

"It could wait until tomorrow, right?" Fiona asked.

"It could've if I hadn't told Moxxi that, quote, The world is going to know who I am. And who I'm with. Unquote. Now, I could just purposefully not mention it, but she's going to notice. And she'll think that I'm leaving it to her to do the honors. I know her," Rhys explained.

"Yeah, that's going to be a problem," Fiona said before looking at the time on her ECHO. "We need to get there fast. If you want to avoid her knowing about you two in a way that'll hurt her the most and brand you the ultimate dick of all time."

"I'd rather have that. Not _be_ it," Rhys said, making Fiona glare at him. "Sorry. That was just too perfect not to take advantage of. Yeah, let's head out. I'll tell Moxxi the situation."


	20. Chapter 20 - Gory Glory

A/N: Been dragging my feet on this too. I find myself losing momentum on my stories because I get too caught up playing video games. But nevertheless, I have a duty to keep updating these stories and that's exactly what I shall do. P.S., I'm most likely gonna find myself making this shit M rated given all these scenes I write with Rhys and Moxxi. The ones before don't go too far, but this one takes the cake thus far.

* * *

Moxxi recovered from the sensation of the Fast Travel fairly fast before a smile crossed her face. Rhys had thought of everything. Her office was only a fairly small part of the Underdome. There were locker rooms, banks, vendors, all kinds of good stuff around the arena. At least the map plot that he had given her had shown all of this. Rhys had thought of everything when it came to the Underdome. She was glad for that. Plus she liked the way he made her office. It defintely felt like her.

"So this is your office?" Sasha questioned, looking around the place. She noted that Moxxi loved the color purple. Like... a lot.

"Yup. I have to say, he did a good job designing the place," Moxxi said, her lips quirking up ever so slightly at the fact.

"You mean you held no part in the designing aspect?" Sasha questioned.

"Nope. I didn't even know he was even working on this until all was said and done. It's actually kind of amazing," Moxxi said.

"This must've been expensive," Vaughn noted.

"It was. He said it was three million, but I think he wasn't exactly telling the truth there. I was too much in shock at the time to think about it," Moxxi said. It was true. Between all the stuff he had brought here and the ultra reality arena, all of this would cost well over three million. Sneaky little thing... She had to hold back a dirty smirk at the implications of the sentence.

"What'd he buy it for?" Vaughn questioned. Rhys spending that much money when he had a business to run didn't seem like him. So he had a sneaking suspicion that there might be something going on between him and Moxxi. He didn't think Moxxi might be truthful about it, but it didn't hurt to ask.

"For sticking him, if you can believe it," the woman said smoothly. "He built Gaige a lab and gave Zer0 a sniper. He simply made a note of everything each of us would want the most, and he made it. None of us asked him. He just did it."

"Wow," Sasha said, her mind boggling at the fact that he spent millions just because he wanted to.

"Give him a few. I'm sure he'll do the same for you all," Moxxi said with a wide smile.

"I'm just looking at the awesome Atlas guns," Sasha said, smiling at the thought of having an awesome of arsenal guns. Much less made by Rhys, who, as much as she would've loathed to admit it when she first met him, was actually very charming. Never would she she say the word 'crush.'

"I'm sure he'll let you get a crack at the prototypes if you just ask," Moxxi assured her before she heard the Fast Travel activate. Fiona was the first one to appear, her eyes landing on Moxxi before going over to her sister. Then it activated again and Rhys appeared, who cracked his neck upon appearing.

A smile was about to make its way onto Moxxi's face, but it died upon seeing the serious look in his eyes. It wasn't deathly serious, but it did signal that he meant business. She had been around him long enough to know the difference.

"I need to talk with you privately for a minute," Rhys said to Moxxi, gesturing his hand over to a corner. Sasha and Vaughn both raised their eyebrows at the sight of Rhys so serious. He wasn't nowhere near as serious when they found out the Raiders were looking to kill him, but it was still serious. Further reminders as to how he changed.

Moxxi nodded as she followed him to a seperate room. Sasha's eyes followed them until they went into the next room. Then her eyes went to her sister, a questioning expression on her face.

"What was that all about?" Sasha asked.

"There was some issue that Rhys noticed before he left. He's just talking with Moxxi to come up with a solution. She's a pretty good advisor for him," Fiona said, choosing her words carefully. She didn't want to straight out lie to her sister. This was more of a technical truth. Which was just as bad in some cases. But what could you do?

"Ah. He did look pretty serious when he walked through the door. Let's just go ahead and take our seats. Underdome should be starting in a minute," Sasha said, making the others nod.

"Alright, so what is it?" Moxxi asked.

"You haven't told anyone we were dating quite yet, have you?" Rhys questioned.

"Not yet. Thought we agreed to just announce it during the Underdome," Moxxi said.

"That's exactly what I need to talk to you about," Rhys said, raising a finger.

"Lemme guess. You need to hold it off," Moxxi questioned, her voice flat.

"Yes, but not for reasons you might be thinking," Rhys said, cracking the knuckles in his human hand. "Rather, it involves Sasha."

"Involves her how?" Moxxi asked.

"Fiona stopped me before we left, as you were there to witness. The thing is that, according to her, Sasha's still harboring a crush on me. And I haven't told her that I'm taken yet. It's just..."

"You feel the need to tell her yourself," Moxxi said, making Rhys nod. "Still genuine as ever." Rhys smiled gently before he sobered.

"Had I been the same person I was a few months ago, I would've enjoyed this information. Now it just puts me in an awkward spot," he said, smoothing his hair back. Moxxi kissed him on the cheek as he looked at him.

"Hey, at least you're not the Jackass I thought you were before. Pun intended," she said, making him groan in exasperation.

"I like the innuendos more than the puns," Rhys said, shaking his head. But then he grinned. "But there is one thing I like better than both of those."

"Down boy. We still got two minutes before you need to be down in the locker room with the others and I have to be on the podium," Moxxi said, gently moving him back. But obviously, he was persistent as he reversed their positions and put her against the wall. His left arm lifted her leg up to circle around his waist as he moved closer to the point where his breath was tickling her ear. Moxxi found her self control dwindling by the second.

"It only takes you seconds to get to the podium from here, and I can make it to the locker room in thirty seconds because I know a shortcut," Rhys said, starting to nibble on her neck. She moaned slightly before she moved her vision to where it was full of his hair.

"You seriously calculated that?" Moxxi questioned.

"Are you complaining?" Rhys questioned as he ran his tongue over the spot he knew drove her crazy.

"Shit... Not at all," Moxxi said, grinding her front against him.

"Good," he said, moving his mouth up to kiss her. His teeth lightly nibbled on her bottom lip, making her move his head to push his head towards her further to deepen the kiss. Rhys moaned slightly and there was that feeling of heat that traveled up her body when she heard it. She could feel the excitement in his pants that made itself known by it pressing into her stomach. She put a hand down the front of his pants a gave it a stroke. The straight up growl of desire that came out from the back of his throat had her smiling. It almost sounded... animalistic.

"You alright sugar?" Moxxi questioned in an innoculous tone. What he was not expecting was for him to push her away. The fact that he had started this and pushed her away had her torn between being extremely irritated and tearing his clothes off.

"We oughta stop there. If we go any further, you will never leave this room," Rhys said, straightening his clothes and trying to push the building desire in his gut down. He didn't touch any girl he dated like he touched Moxxi. And he had to say he was addicted to the sensation.

He didn't miss the small smirk that was on her face when he said that. No matter how long he hung around, she would always affect like this.

Rhys tried to get the thoughts out of his head. Well, it was time for his third favorite pasttime. Shooting shit. His first favorite would have to wait.

"What kept you?" Gaige asked as Rhys walked into the room. He tried not to make his puffy lips easily visible, but that was never easy to get rid of. And unfortunately, someone was observant. But it wasn't Gaige.

"Oh, I think I know," Axton said with a smirk on his face. "I know what those puffy lips mean."

"Oh, shut up," Rhys said, his words having no effect on Axton's smirk.

"You let Moxxi go a few rounds on you?" he said, the smirk turning into a shit eating grin. Gaige elbowed him in the stomach, which made him let out a small 'oof.'

"We went a few rounds on each other, to be quite honest," Rhys finally said, refusing to make eye contact with Axton.

"You two never get tired of eating each other, do you?" Gaige questioned.

"Wait, you knew about this?" Axton asked.

"She's one of the few who do know. And it's going to stay that way until I say so. _Got it?"_ Rhys said, eyeing Axton with a steely gaze.

"If you weren't already with Moxxi, I'd give you my ex-wife's ECHO contact signal. You'd two get along great with the looks you have," he said simply. Rhys only rolled his eyes. He didn't know why being compared to Axton's ex-wife bugged him.

Luckily, the sounds of Moxxi's voice started flooding into the room they were in, giving Axton no more room for smart remarks.

* * *

Mordecai found himself tuned into a certain ECHOnet channel. There were rumors going around that the Underdome was returning, and he himself didn't quite believe the idea. After all, he didn't know how Moxxi would've found the money. But then his eyebrows raised slightly at the sound of hearing Moxxi's voice over the ECHOnet.

 _"Hello everyone!"_ Moxxi said with a mic in her hand and a hand waving it in the air extravagantly. _"And welcome to the return of the Underdome in all of its charming and gory glory!"_ She stopped speaking only to listen the crowd yell in excitement. So the rumors were true. And by the sound of things, the fan base had not diminished at all.

 _"Thanks to the Handsome Jackass of Hyperion, I was forced to put this wonderful event to a halt. He destroyed my last Underdome, but he's dead and it's coming back!"_ Moxxi said, making the crowd go crazy again. Years later, and she still had a flair for the dramatics. The thought made him roll his eyes.

 _"Now, I'm sure you're all wondering how this stroke of fortune managed to shine its way onto all of you."_ It's certainly what Mordecai was wondering. He had the strangest feeling it had something to do with the Hyperion that left.

 _"Well, that's a surprise that you'll soon discover. For now, we got four people who are fully prepared to murder a lot of things for your entertainment! Everyone... ARE... YOU... READY?!"_ Moxxi exclaimed, making the crowd yell louder than before. This made Mordecai furrow his brows. He was well aware that Gaige and Zer0 left with the Hyperion. They hadn't seen Axton for a few days, so it's safe to assume he left and was there as well. So who was the fourth person?

* * *

 _"Ladies first is always good manners, so let's introduce our first survivor!" Moxxi exclaimed. "You may recgonize her as a Vault Hunter. I recognize her as a close friend of mine. Ladies and gentleman, The Mecromancer, The Teen With Flair, The Genius With Spunk, I give youuuuu... GAIIIIIIGEEEE!"_

Gaige couldn't stop the wide smile that came to her face from Moxxi introducing her in a way that appealed to her more than she would admit. The screams from the crowd helped with that. There was just something about being able to show your badassery to other people that made the whole thing even more exciting.

Just as a way to show off, Gaige summoned Deathtrap to appear behind her. The robot charged a bunch of electricty in its hand before slamming the round shape it took. The electricity spread itself around the two in a harmless fashion, but the whole thing made it look as if the electricity was dancing around her; as if she were harnessing it. She had the appearance of a goddess as she had her hands spread out to her sides and she was looking up to the sky like she was summoning the energy from the heavens.

The display worked; the crowd got even louder. With applause, screams, and whistles. Gaige had that intense feeling of satisfaction as she made made her way to the middle of the arena.

 _"I expected nothing less than a stylish display from her. Next up, we have another Vault Hunter. They're not all Vault Hunters people, but most of them are. Ladies and gentleman, The Commando, The Handsome Soldier, The Charming Killer, I give youuuuu... AXXXXTOOOOONNN!" Moxxi exclaimed._ Unlike Gaige, Axton wasted no time in going out there to recieve the cheers and applause of the crowd. He held his hands out towards the crowd with a wide grin on his face.

With an idle throw, he tossed two turrets behind him with the nuke function on them going off. The explosions behind gave for an awesome display as he purposely slowed his walk to make his stride towards the center cooler and smoother. The crowd certainly liked it from the volume increase as he called back his turrets. He would have to remind himself to thank Rhys for the ability to call his turrets back at range from a trigger command in his ECHO.

 _"Next up is a man we know almost nothing about. But we love him like that. It makes him all the more badass. Ladies and gentleman, The Assassin, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Mysterious, The Ghost Among Combat, I give youuuuu... ZEEEEEROOOOO!"_

Zer0 gave no physical reaction to the cheers and applause that was headed his way upon walking towards the center of the arena, but internally, he found himself raising a mental eyebrow. He found himself slightly enjoying the enthusiasm to his presence. Maybe there was some understanding from his fellow Vault Hunters from wanting to show off upon the cheers of the crowd. It was somewhat gratifying to have an audience to witness his deadly skill.

 _"And now, I give you the only person here who is not a Vault Hunter, but he is deadly all the same. This man pissed on Handsome Jack's grave by destroying his beloved space station, he's the new owner of the newly revived Atlas corporation, and he's also the reason you have an Underdome show here tonight! Ladies and gentlemen, The Company Man, A Man of Momentum, The Cyborg with Swag, I give youuuuu... RHYYYYYSSSSS!"_

Rhys walked out towards the stage with plenty of confidence in his step. He didn't smile upon the attention, but under the surface, he did relish in the fact that these people were yelling their lungs out for him. And if they wanted to see a show, he was going to give it to them. There were a lot of ways to kill a person, and he knew a lot of them.

"Shall we?" Rhys asked Zer0. The assassin mutely nodded before the both of them drew their swords at the same time. They twirled it stylishly as their legs moved in a type of step, fluidly moving while giving the appearences that both of them were master swordsmen. Which they were. (Think of Zer0's Decepti0n clone poses)

They ended with a flourish where the both of them had one leg in front of the other while they were crouched slightly, their swords above their heads and pointing in the direction they were looking. The crowd went crazy as they straightened themselves. Rhys couldn't resist moving his head to where he knew the camera was and gave it a rougish wink.

 _"There are all of our contestants! Now, are you ready for this?"_ Moxxi questioned, making the crowd roar. But that wasn't enough for her. _"I don't think you're ready for this. ARE... YOU... READY?!"_ Now the crowd had reached the point where they had become deafening. This is what everyone here came to witness. The legendary slaughter that the Underdome was known for.

 _"Round 1! Let's go!"_ Moxxi exclaimed. The four gladiators in the middle of the ring only smiled as they saw bandits coming out from entry points with guns in their hands. This was going to be FUN.

The map itself had a simple design; a rundown town that would fit on Pandora with particularly low buildings. The main thing that caught the eye was the giant structure in the middle, considering the size of all the buildings. It was a simple pillar that had looked like it had decades of decay on it. But a staple in what was once a town with hustle and bustle.

Rhys drew two Atlas Mashers, Gaige an incendiary Maliwan SMG, Axton decided on a Vladof spinigun, while Zer0 cloaked himself with Rhys' gifted sniper. The energy from the electricity would do a very good job in killing them if some stroke of luck they survived the high caliber bullet that was sure to hit their skull.

"That money is ours! So just die!" one of the bandits exclaimed, firing his Bandit SMG at them with his buddies right next to him. As one, they all went their seperate ways. Divide and conquer. And conquering was definitely in the question.

Summoning Deathtrap to her side as she slid under a hail of rounds from the guns of three bandits in front of her, her faithful robot floated up to them and spun in circles to cut them in half with its razor sharp claws. She smiled at the sight.

"Love ya bot!" Gaige said with a grin on her face.

Zer0 had mantled to the top of the mountainous pillar while cloaked and aimed down the sights of his sniper. Aim locked on a group of bandits that had gotten to the top of a buidling, he lined up his shot perfectly to kill two of the four bandits that were on the building in one shot. Aim adjusting only slightly at the confusion of where the shot had came from, he took his opportunity and shot both of the remaining bandits that were on that building down like animals.

 _"Pop! Dead,"_ the assassin thought with an immense feeling of satisfaction. He was rather enjoying himself so far.

"Turret out!" Axton exclaimed tossing both of his turrets. The nuclear blasts incinerated eight of the bandits upon making contact with the deadly explosion with no shield. Behind him, he could see that a number of psychos were making their way towards him. Five normal, two burning, one slagged. His attention immediately went to them.

"I'm going to hang your mother until she struggles to stroke the rough skinned centerpiece of my aria!" one of the psychos exclaimed. Focusing his Vladof rifle on them, he held the trigger as it began to build its maximum fire rate. Aiming at the skulls, his bullets shredded their skulls just enough for the last psycho to fall at his feet, his punctured head only inches from his boot. With ten bullets left in the mag. Axton smirked and nodded in satisfaction before running in an opposite direction.

Rhys had a steady calm pace going on as he walked in a relatively open area, his coat jacket billowing behind him as a grenade had exploded past him. Interestingly enough, there were three Bruisers in front of him rather than just your average bandit.

Raising his Mashers as he twirled them, he put one foot forward and blasted a Bruiser in the head. He fell without a word. A few shotgun blasts hit his shield, but he wasn't bothered much by them. Omega shields held up to a lot of gunfire.

"High noon," Rhys said before pointing both of his revolvers in front of him and putting two Masher shells in each of their brains. Then the four of them moved to collect the ammo drops that fell from the sky. They hardly used any ammo, but free ammo was free ammo.

 _"Nicely done. All of our fighters are looking good out there. That wave didn't last long. But let's turn it up a notch, shall we?"_ Moxxi said as each of the four gladiators was engulfed by a blue beam. It felt strange; like someone was tickling your insides. So it definitely did something.

 _"Say hello the Shotgun Challenge! Your shotgun will do great against these guys! Everything else? Eh, not so much,"_ Moxxi said, sounding pleased.

"That suits me just fine," Gaige said, drawing her Jakobs shotgun. As much as Zer0 preferred his snipers, he pulled out a Hyperion shotgun. Axton decided on an incendiary one made by Tediore. Leaving Rhys to decide on one of his Atlas shotguns. It wasn't anything special, but Atlas weapons themseves were perfectly balanced in every single aspect of a weapon. He liked to think that he had replicated that in his weapons fairly well.

 _"Here we go! The Gun Wave!"_ Moxxi exclaimed, waving her hand dramatically. Just as she did that, more bandits with seemingly better weapons came out. Before it was like they had weapons of white rarity and occasional green. This time it seemed everyone had green and blues. Which means they had to be a lot more careful in getting shot. And Rhys had a perfect solution for that.

"Try this on for size, bitches!" Rhys said, activating the shield function on his arm. Rather than Athena's simple red shield, the color of the shield was a blue and light gray with the word "Atlas" directly in the middle. Ah, this arm was so awesome. Between the ability to channel electricity, magnetic fingers to climb metal objects, the cloaking device and shield? This arm was THE Swiss Army Knife.

"Need cover, Rhys? Nah, you good?" Gaige questioned rhetorically as she jumped above his head and blasted the face off a Bruiser in front of him. The man in question smiled as he held his shotugn in his left hand with his shield thoroughly protecting him as he advanced close enough to blast the targets with ease.

 _"Rhys is looking good out there. In more ways than one, I must say..."_ Moxxi said, not bothering to hide the sultry tone in her voice. After all, it was a common thing among her character. It wouldn't really raise any eyebrows. It certainly made Rhys' lips quirk upward slightly.

Zer0 cloaked and moved at a fast pace, quickly firing his shotgun and blowing the brains out of one enemy before his fast pace let him relocate to a spot they were aiming away from before repeating the process again. The bandits he was killing were now getting scared at the display.

"What the hell? Nobody said we'd be fighting ghosts!" one of the bandits yelled before Zer0 blew his face off.

"Yoo hoo! Stupid guy! / I was really over here / Too bad you're dead now," the assassin said, still moving around the area as if he were a breeze in the wind.

 _"These boys can't even find Zer0! Which I know is just the way he likes it,"_ Moxxi said. The assassin mildly enjoyed her sense of rhetorical perception.

Axton found himself hiding behind cover and taking potshots every now and then at the bandits who attacked. He would listen to Moxxi when she said that anything other than shotguns against these guys wouldn't do much. Between everyone dividing their targets, this round wasn't much of a problem.

 _"Hope you like psychos, cause you're certainly going to get a bunch of them in... the Horde Wave!"_ Moxxi exclaimed as the blue beam roamed their bodies again. I guess their other weapons were effectve again.

Then manical laughter began to fill the vast arena as they saw all kinds of psychos charing towards them. Regular ones, slagged ones, blazing ones, and(unfrortunately), suicide ones.

"Ha ha ha! Time to playyy! Time to play!" one of the psychos exclaimed as they ran at him. This time, Rhys and and Zer0 were the only ones to switch weapons. Going to their swords and looking to each other with a knowing look, they both charged forward to take the psychos head on.

"I vanish!" Zer0 exclaimed, throwing his Decepti0n duplicate out while turning invisible at the right time. The suicders immediately went for the seemingly brashly charging Zer0, and set off their grenades while near him. But the only thing they achieved was blowing up many of his fellow psychos in the process. Rhys was glad for the lack of suiciders as he waited for the psychos to charge him.

"Start the clock! I'm going to count every-" The psycho was cut off in a mid swing as Rhys swiftly cut him in half before fluidly changing his stance and deflecting two buzz axes away from him before severing both of the heads of the swingers.

 _"Look at the ninjas down there. Looks like they're having some fun,"_ Moxxi said in a slightly humored tone.

 _"We all are,"_ Axton thought with a small grin as he blocked a swing with his gun. Then he bashed the psycho in the gut with it before bringing it down on his head with sickening crunch, following it up with a killing blow from his tomahawk to the back of his head before quickly directing it to deflect it from a buzz axe coming his way.

"I've said this like a million times, but I need to get you an extra arm just for high fives!" Gaige exclaimed with a grin as she shot a psycho in the face. She wasn't quite the prowess in hand to hand to combat like all of her friends were, but she enjoyed just being able to blast them into the face and watching Deathtrap rip them apart. There were a lot of psychos, but that only made the wave more fun. It didn't end so fast.

 _"Let's see how badass you all really are. Cause that's what we're going to be throwing at you,"_ Moxxi said with a grin that showed through her voice.

As if on demand, the arrival of said badasses caught everyone's attention. Two badass psychos, a badass nomad, a badass fire skag, a badass corrosion skag, and three badass marauders. Even Axton's eyes slightly widened at how many there were. Yet whether anyone realized it, Zer0 was smiling. This would prove to be somewhat of a challenge. Even more so if he was forced to fight these creatures himself, but he would enjoy the vast amount of enemies now.

"Let's get to it," Rhys said before using his ECHO arm to cloak himself and disappear from the battle. Axton tossed his turrets on the giant pillar in the middle so they would have a better advantage over the enemies in the area. Gaige's shoulders became more taut as she knew she had to pay attention as to what was going on. As for Zer0, he was satisfied taking on the badass psycho that had gone for him while the nomad was shooting at him.

Gaige and Deathtrap found themselves between both of the badass skags while Axton was evading gunfire from the marauders. As the fire skag was breathing fire on her, she used the opportunity to shoot it in the mouth with a quick swap to her Atlas Stinger that she had in her inventory to utterly destroy the inside of its mouth.

Deathtrap was locked in combat with the corrosion skag, using its Explosive Clap to keep the skag stumbled to the point where it could barely launch an offensive. But that didn't stop it from getting a few shots on the robot, the acid making its reputation known as an armor killer. Unfortunately, the robot was not made out of the same material as Rhys' arm.

Gaige turned after she dealt with the fire skag only to see her robot go down to the other skag's corrosion. But before it could even open its mouth, it was cut in half from beginning to end. Rhys uncloaked himself and smiled at the inventor in front of him. Gaige returned the smile more brightly.

"Element of surprise is always nice," he said before having to duck a swing from a badass psycho. Rhys looked at Gaige, who was raising her gun. "No. I got this. Go help Axton."

"You sure?" Gaige asked as she watched him duck the psycho's blows with almost no effort. He seemed to move like water. She had her answer then as she went over to help Axton who was in a stalemate with the badass marauders around him.

"There's a common misconception with strength. It's not simply muscles or what you can lift," Rhys said as he ducked a blow before using his metal hand to strike a nerve in the psycho's hand, causing its hand to stop in midair for a brief second before falling flat. "It's about what you do with the strength you have."

He then followed up strikes with a speed that would make almost anyone jealous. It were almost as if he were just striking the psycho randomly, but there were nervepoints all over the body. Some people could have theirs triggered easier than others, but the spots still existed. No matter how deformed you were. Which is why he was able to render the psycho's body as useless as a target practice dummy before, with, more effort than usual, snapping the psycho's neck.

 _"That is why Zer0 is awesome. He taught me how to beat people like that without a gun,"_ Rhys thought with a smile as he looked over to the person in question. Zer0 seemingly did the same thing to the badass psycho he was locked in combat with. Only rather than snapping his neck, Zer0 turned away from while having a sniper rifle on his shoulder and shooting him in the face without even looking at him. As the badass nomad was still trying to shoot at him while using his shield to block the hail of fire from one of Axton's turrets. Even after hanging around him for a while, Rhys still couldn't get over how badass the assassin was.

"Get off him!" Gaige exclaimed as she jumped from on top of a building and smashed one of the badass marauders in the head with her hammer. Her metal hand gave her just enough force to bash the guy's brains in. The second marauder had revealed himself to try and shoot at the person who had wanted to join the party. This was a mistake, as the turret was still scanning the immediate area. He couldn't detect him for a moment because he had himself thoroughly hid in his spot. Now that that had changed, he was blasted to bits by bullets and missiles.

Axton smiled before he was suddenly locked into close combat with the last marauder. The marauder bashed Axton in the face with his gun and busted open his lip with the force, but Axton would tell you that he was as tough as much as he was pretty. So he headbutted the marauder and forced him back before using his gun to smack him in the face and one of his knees, lowering him into a crouched position. Axton then held the marauder's head before grinning.

"You weren't using this anyway," Axton said before beheading the marauder with his tomahawk and throwing his head in the corner like it was old trash.

Moxxi didn't even have anything to say as she watched the combat going on with rapt attention. This was the definition of an Underdome battle. Entertainment and pure badassery on the side of the gladiators of her ring. Rhys and Zer0 running through badass psychos while Gaige and Axton taking care of business with the marauders. There was only the badass nomad left, and she was curious as to what they were going to do to kill him.

"I'll make a coat out of ya!" the nomad exclaimed as he continued to try to press an offensive while blocking the missiles and gunfire from Axton's turret with his shield. But he was still catching some of the force from the rockets, which was eating away at his shield. Rhys smiled as he laid eyes on the struggling badass nomad. Then he suddenly had a idea that appealed to him very much.

"Special delivery!" Rhys exclaimed as he ran over to the nomad, who redirected his gunfire from hearing Rhys' shout. Once Rhys got close, the nomad tried to swing at him to get him off him. The turret had stopped firing because of Rhys' close proximity.

He simply ducked the shield before summoning an unpinned grenade to his metal hand and forcing it through the badass nomad's sternum. Then Deathtrap used his Explosive Clap to force the nomad back quite a few meters. Then he looked to the others, who nodded in some silent understanding.

As the nomad abandoned his gun and shield to try and remove the grenade out of his stomach to no avail, the four gladiators that were on the field simply turned around and walked away from the explosion of fire, blood, and body parts. It rained down on them like a simple weather forecast.

"Absolutely badass," Axton said with a grin.

"We make it look easy," Gaige said with a grin as she looked at Rhys, who grinned back. And looking at Deathtrap's Explosive Clap gave Rhys another idea for his arm. He had to say. This was was a very nice day so far.

 _"And to think I thought that was going to be a challenge,"_ Moxxi suddenly said with a grin, catching everyone's attention. _"Well, let's hope this last part will give you a little something to think about."_

 _"Now, the power of technology is a very powerful thing. And because of it, I have the ability to recreate anything I want. So..."_ Suddenly the arena changed and they were all out in a frozen wasteland. Even the cold felt very much real. _"...let's have the Vault Hunters reunite with an old acquaintance. Returning turning in a relative amount of glory, say hello to Knuckle Dragger... times four."_

This is what caught everyone's attention. She wasn't lying. Looking as if they had been waiting the whole time, there were in fact four Knuckle Draggers waiting for them. One for each fighter. They all looked at each other and nodded before charging towards their respective Bullymong.

Rhys charged towards his Knuckle Dragger before sliding on the ice to dodge the rocks that were thrown his way. Then his hands found his way to Knuckle Dragger's skull. With a hard pull, he ripped off the Bullymong's head, blood spattering on his face from the force. It wasn't ultra reality for nothing. He made sure of that.

Rhys let out a sigh of... what was that? Enjoyment? Yes. He supposed it was. It was a norm for him to enjoy doing things like this. Becuase that was what this planet did to you. Turned you inside out. Turned your fun into a more twisted perception of it.

Gaige focused on the Knuckle Dragger that began banging on its chest while roaring. Deathtrap wasn't recharged for her quite yet, so this left her to deal with the thing herself. She had the help of the other Vault Hunters minus Krieg the last time. Then again, she was the only one with a gun at the time. She had an even better gun this time, and this was only a Bullymong who was slightly stronger than usual. She was just overthinking it.

Rolling to the side when Knuckle Dragger launched himself at her, she quickly swapped to her Jakobs shotgun and blasted its face. Twice.

Unfortunately, she forgot how these things had ungodly thick skulls when it came to bullets. So she quickly changed it to a Jakobs pistol and unloaded all six bullets into its brain to kill it.

"Stupid thing," Gaige muttered as she reloaded all of her guns.

Axton summoned a grenade to his hand and smirked as he dodged Knuckle Dragger's pounce at him. He bounced the grenade in his hand a little before unpinning it, tossing it in the air, and batting it at Knuckle Dragger's head. It was a Sticky MIRV grenade, so it attached to its head immediately. Axton's Knuckle Dragger gave off one final roar before its head was blown off and a number of his limbs along with it. He only smiled wider as he could fully hear the screams of the crowd even through his adredaline.

Zer0 simply stood where he was while he had his sword at his side. His copy of Knuckle Dragger roared before launching itself at the assassin. Only to get sliced in half as it propelled itself towards Zer0's sword. The Bullymong wasn't never very challenging. Even after he was injured from the train crash.

The screams of the crowd suddenly caught everyone back up with the present. Moxxi was smirking as she looked down at the four gladiators, still unhurt and hardly spent of any energy after this round.

 _"That's the end of the first round! But don't worry people. We still got four more coming to keep you entertained. Still got plenty in the tank, you four?"_ Moxxi questioned. The four of them looked at each other and nodded. Then Rhys looked up at Moxxi while holding his hands out in a challenging way.

"Bring it on beautiful," he said in a tone of self-assurance. The crowd only cheered louder. Except for Sasha. Something about the way he called Moxxi beautiful rubbed her the wrong way. Maybe it was just him letting the thrill of everything get to him.

But Fiona knew the look that was on her sister's face, and bit her bottom lip gently. Man, she wished this situation was a lot simpler than it was...

* * *

"Didn't expect that," Lilith said idly as she watched the show.

"The Underdome?" Mordecai questioned.

"That, and the fact that the Hyperion actually know how to fight. No one found where he actually lives?" Lilith asked.

"Not yet. But it's got to be big. If what Moxxi said is true, he's running a company. And one that's taking off, given what we see in the vendors. He's worked out something with Marcus to sell his stuff, and given that, he's got money to do what he wants with it," Mordecai told her. A pondering look crossed Lilith's face. It definitely caught his attention. "What're you thinking?"

"Still working out the details. I'll let you know when I've got it all worked out. In the meanwhile, tell the rest of the Raiders to keep their eyes open about anything Atlas related. I want to know immediately if he tries anything," she told him. Mordecai nodded and walked off. He had a feeling something was about to happen. As for when it would happen, he didn't know.

* * *

A/N: Sorry this too long. Got a bit lazy, so I never worked on this. But hope this was a good chapter for you all. I might do more Underdome stuff in the future. Who knows?


	21. Chapter 21 - Bring in the Calvary

There was worry in Sasha's gut as she looked at the two together. Now even more than before. After the first round, Rhys decided to hang up the fighting and join Moxxi up on the podium. The two were interesting to say the least. Both charismatic, appealing to listen to, and both had their own batches of innuendo to throw in. But she saw more than what just seemed like a partnership. Fiona would've told her she would just be imagining things if she were to voice her thoughts to her, so she kept them to herself.

There were just little things she noticed when she looked the two. Rhys seemed to take every opportunity that he had to touch her while doing his commentary. And while not quite as obvious as Rhys, it almost looked as if Moxxi was doing the same. There were shared looks between them, warm exchanges, and it all just set off alarm bells. She might have been reading too much into it, but they may as well have been dating to her.

 _"It hasn't helped that you've been beating around the bush since you got around Rhys. Men in general are not all that smart when it comes to these things,"_ Sasha thought, looking back up at the man in question.

He had changed. Oh, change was putting it lightly. But everything about him was better. He was stronger, faster, more capable with a gun. Even with all that, it didn't look like he had lost any of his old dorkiness that she found annoying before. Now she just found it attractive. Especially when compared with the moments where he was a impassive badass on the battlefield. He'd be better than them at this whole Vault Hunting thing to be honest. But he just wanted to run a company.

"Sasha?" Fiona asked, making Sasha turn towards her sister. "You look out of it. Are you alright?"

"It's about Rhys," Sasha said.

"What about him?" Fiona asked.

"You know what I mean. I've talked to you about it before," Sasha said, her voice sounding somewhat frustrated.

"Then it's better if you take it up with him. You'll have your answer if you actually face him," Fiona said, sadly already knowing the outcome of that conversation.

"You're right. I don't know why I keep dodging it. Maybe..." Sasha sighed. She did not want to talk about this situation in the stands of a crowded stadium. "I need to talk to him."

"Then do it after the show," Fiona said, making Sasha nod. And she had to curse herself for her own cowardice. That changed today.

* * *

"And that's a wrap," Rhys said, smoothing his hair back.

"We made a fortune off entry tickets. Couple of million," Moxxi said, turning her ECHO to show him the profits that rolled in.

"'We?' It's your Underdome," Rhys told him.

"Correction: Our Underdome. Because not only would this Underdome not be here because of you, but you were as involved in the commentary as I was. So I would say that you are a partner in this business. Therefore, you get a share," Moxxi said.

"Never before would I have ever believed you being willing to share anything," Rhys said with a smile.

"Neither did I. But I have to say that you've changed me," Moxxi said, putting her arms around the back of his neck.

"Later, alright? I still need to talk to Sasha," Rhys said, grabbing her arms gently and setting them down.

"Things might get messy," Moxxi told him.

"I doubt it. I don't take Sasha as the jealous bitch type. Will she be upset? Yes. More than likely. I know I would be if the roles were reversed. But I expect her to understand," Rhys told her as he kissed Moxxi on her forehead softly. She smiled at the feeling. The gesture was sweet rather than sexual, and warm rather than just hot. The feeling wasn't common, but she would be lying if she didn't enjoy the few times she was treated like a loved one.

"I want you to promise me something," Moxxi said.

"Anything," Rhys said.

"No matter what happens, don't let anything come in between what we have going on," Moxxi said, her voice sounding vulnerable for a few seconds before it hardened. "I mean, I've never felt like this before. And if you do anything to make me regret that, I'll make you regret it."

"Mmm-hmm," Rhys said as he looked at her and smiled. It was hard to keep up a hard facade when you had _this_ man looking at you like _that._ "Know that I'm not going to let anything come between us. If I wanted to go for Sasha, if I would've ignored you and went after her. The same could've gone for Gaige. I'm not the type to not know what he wants. I want you. Nothing anyone can say or do will change that. Only you have that ability, and I am very much attracted to you."

Rhys then backed up and straightened his suit before looking at Moxxi with his smile still on his face.

"Now, just wait in my office while I talk to Sasha. It shouldn't take too long," he told her as they traveled back to Old Haven.

"I have to say, you were looking good out there," Moxxi said as Rhys secured his sleeves again as he had unbuttoned them and rolled them back while he was fighting.

"Don't I know it. I'm going to have to go a few more rounds. That was fun," Rhys said with a grin as he straightened up.

"Well, if you've got some leftover energy, we can..."

"Not yet darling," Rhys said with a knowing look before it turned into a sultry one. "I do promise to follow up, but we have to take care of business first. Then..."

Before he came to Pandora, Rhys was not a ladies man. Far from it. He got in relationships, but never did he feel comfortable enough to kiss her without reason. And he certainly didn't feel comfortable enough feel her up like he was doing now. And the change made him feel good.

"Am I business?" Moxxi asked, sliding his jacket off as she pressed her chest further out. Rhys' grip unconsciously tightened before he was able to restrain himself and retract his hands.

"No. Definitely not," he said, trying not to let this seductress of a woman tempt him any further. But it was very, _very_ difficult. "I'll talk to her and then..."

"You can take care of _this_ business," Moxxi said, slowly sliding her hands down her body. It was subtle, but sexy. It also forced Rhys to have to walk away under risk of not being accountable for his own actions at that point.

 _"Out of all people, I went for goddamn Mad Moxxi,"_ Rhys thought as he smoothed his hair back and walked towards the building. Hopefully, they were all in there already.

 _"Rhys?"_ Sasha suddenly asked on the ECHO. That quickly got his attention. _"Can we talk? In your office?"_

"Yeah, sure. There's something I need to discuss with you as well," Rhys said.

 _"Alright, I'll wait here,"_ Sasha said, cutting off the call. Rhys let out a deep breath before walking towards his office. Only once did he ever have to let a girl down, and that was beyond awkward. He was lucky to not need the metal arm considering who the brother was.

Walking outside of his office, he could see that Sasha was waiting outside the doors. But something about the way she stood didn't sit right with him. It was less confident; less... sure of herself. That didn't fit her at all.

"Couldn't get in. You've got a lot of security," Sasha said.

"Yeah. Hold on," Rhys said before pulling up a menu on his arm. The console on the outside of his door beeped rapidly before the red light changed to green and the automatic doors opened with a soft hiss.

"What'd you do?" Sasha asked.

"There are over one hundred encrypted codes and passwords that randomly change every thirty seconds. Codes that my arm scramble," Rhys said as he sealed then unsealed the door without even making a physical movement. "And my arm only works off my DNA and brainwaves."

"Which basically makes sure you're the only one who can unlock it," Sasha said.

"Right. Even if the arm were to be severed, which isn't likely, but if it were, I can still operate it because it works off my brainwaves," Rhys said, tapping his finger against his skull.

"That's really smart," Sasha said, genuinely impressed by the technology. It was a little paranoid, but it was smart.

"Why thank you," Rhys said with a smile as he removed his jacket that only left his regular shirt as he put it on his chair. "Now... there's something I wanted to discuss with you. I know you asked me to come here, but there's something I need to address with you."

"Mind if I go first?" Sasha asked.

"Are you sure? I mean, this is something I should've told you a while ago," Rhys said, scratching the back of his head. It felt like a little lead suddenly appeared in her insides when she heard him say that. She didn't like the sound of that.

"Alright, go," Sasha said, making him nod. Rhys took a deep breath and decided to keep it simple. So that there was no mistake.

"Me and Moxxi are dating," he said evenly. He said it as calm and level as he could. But he didn't miss that disappointed look in her eyes that replaced the hesitant one.

"Well, maybe it's a good thing that you did go first. Under risk of making me look like a fool," Sasha said, her tone sounding somewhat bitter.

"Sasha..." Rhys said, reaching a hand out. But she pushed it back.

"No. Don't bother. I'll see myself out," she said, walking towards the door. Rhys was a little late to respond as she walked out, but he deactivated the lock on it so the door automatically opened. He then sat back in his chair and looked at the ceiling of his office.

 _"I remember when things were simple. When I was hiding up in Helios and was taking it day by day in that snake pit. When your life gets more complicated than that, you know you're living the dream,"_ Rhys thought in a exasperated tone. Not to mention the possibility of war... he wouldn't let that happen to everyone. He wouldn't. He would avoid it at all costs, but he would fight the Raiders to the last in order to protect everyone he cares about. And that includes Sasha. No matter how she may or may not be feeling about him right now.

 _"Sir?"_ Cassius suddenly said on the intercom. Rhys immediately hit the button to respond.

"Go ahead," he said.

 _"Your request for soldiers has been well received. A local militant group has agreed to provide service to you on proper payment,"_ Cassius told him.

"How much?" Rhys asked.

 _"Five million as a down payment. The amount of soldiers you request will either decrease or increase the amount you give or get back,"_ Cassius told him. _"The leader wishes to chat with you via ECHO immediately."_

"Wire him the money. And connect the call to my ECHO," Rhys said.

 _"Doing so now,"_ Cassius said before there was a beep.

 _"I can assume I'm speaking with the leader of Atlas now?"_ a gruff voice said on the other end.

"Yes. You are. Rhys is the name," he said.

 _"You sound young,"_ the man said.

"If you have a doubt that I can run this company because of age, my knowledge more than makes up for my youth. And so does my skill," Rhys said firmly.

 _"Sounds like you do have a pair. Alright. You've got my attention Rhys. And you'll refer to me as Sinister, leader of The Shadows militant group. Our soldiers are combat trained to the highest regard. Guns. Hand to hand weapons. Vehicles. Only the best,"_ Sinister said.

"Alright, Sinister. There is a chance I may be looking at war here. My intention is not attack, but to defend what I plan to build. If that cycle is broken, however, I will be prepared to give the order to track down and kill all of my enemies without mercy. Provided your men can cope with the threat. Make no mistake. My enemies are more than just talentless, greedy scum. They are more dangerous than that," Rhys explained, his voice deadly serious.

 _"Dangerous how?"_ Sinister asked.

"Ex-Vault Hunter dangerous," Rhys said, making Sinister whistle.

 _"Quite the enemies you've made there. How'd you manage that?"_ he asked, sounding almost eager.

"Not important as of now. What you need to know is what they're capable of, and I've sent what I've been able to gather what intelligence I can on them. They are very deadly, and they have an army of their own," Rhys told him.

 _"We need to discuss where you send my men before deployment is arranged,"_ Sinister said.

"I've sent you a plot of my territory along with their bios. The areas that I've marked are areas where I need your men to deploy. Even the size of the land has been estimated for you," Rhys told him. There was small pause as he knew Sinister was looking over how many men Rhys would need.

 _"That's a fair amount of area to cover,"_ Sinister said.

"It is. And along with your payment, I shall provide the assistance of your defense with an invention of my own. It'll be rather useful for defense as well as escort missions. Though it will require extra training. So... shall we wrap this up?" Rhys questioned.

 _"An extra five million. That's a lot of area to cover, plus the threat we'll be facing,"_ Sinister said. Rhys was suddenly glad for the Underdome money he got from Moxxi. He wasn't expecting to have to throw so much money into this.

"These soldiers of yours better be worth it," Rhys said grimly as he wired the money through.

 _"They definitely will. Ex-Vault Hunter or no, several of my men are worth about a thousand of them. Rest assured, you and your assets are safe. We'll deploy down to Pandora as quickly as possible. Pleasure doing business with you,"_ Sinister said.

"Are you just saying that because you can charge so much?" Rhys questioned, making Sinister chuckle.

 _"A little. You're a sharp one. I'll give you that. But our forces will be deployed to Pandora soon. They are all under your command... Atlas,"_ he said. Rhys recognized the difference between calling him Atlas rather than Rhys. As of now, Atlas was a reputation of power. It was Sinister's way of showing he recognized that power.

"A pleasure doing business with you," Rhys said, shutting off the call. Then he immediately moved to contact someone else. "Gaige?"

 _"Yeah?"_ she asked.

"There's work to be done soon. I have soldiers arriving soon. Contact as many scientists as you can to prepare for the work I'll be having them do. Atlas will be known for more than weapon design. Once the soldiers arrive, the equipment necessary will be divided so they can conduct their research," Rhys told her as Moxxi walked in. She frowned slightly at the sight of Rhys looking so serious. Something must have happened.

 _"I'll get on it as fast as I can. What about the others?"_ Gaige asked.

"There's nothing to tell them. Not yet, anyway. The Raiders haven't done anything yet. Mostly because they can't find where we're setting up shop, but as of now, we have peace. It's up to the Raiders as to whether or not we can maintain that peace," Rhys told her.

 _"Another war... it's something I don't want to happen,"_ Gaige said.

"Neither do I. The best way to avoid it would be to get off this shit stain of a planet and let them do what they want to it, but I'm not moving. Not an inch. Too much time, effort, and money. We keep our heads down, do our research, and don't bother the Raiders. If they want a war? Then we'll give it to them if they force my hand," Rhys said coldly.

 _"I'm with you if it ever comes to that. So are the rest of us,"_ Gaige told him.

"And that's why I can count on you all. For now, just get things done," Rhys said.

 _"You got it,"_ Gaige said, shutting off the call.

"Still worrying about the Raiders?" Moxxi asked.

"It's a given. But we have soldiers now; an army to back us up. If they want war, then they should know I want nothing more than to avoid that. But if they want it, I'll give it to them. And I'll kill every last one of them for it," Rhys said, his voice still ice cold before he stood to his feet and straightened himself up. "Soldiers will be arriving at the drop off point soon. I will go meet them."

"You need anyone to come with?" Moxxi asked.

"No, it's fine. What I need you to do..." Rhys said as he put a hand on one of her cheeks. The cold look he had masked himself with was gone and was replaced by one more sincere. More vulnerable. "...never change. I love you the way you are. And more than anything, if we're forced to go to war, stay alive. I need all of you to stay alive. I'm afraid what will happen if I do lose you all." Then he strode out of the room.

 _"And that is when the hero who saved us on Helios died."_ In a position of power, it's real easy to lose your mind. To lose sight of what you stand for if hardships strike. Jack was one of those people. Now Rhys' biggest fear was going down that exact same path. It was there. It was definitely in sight. He could see himself becoming the monster he had once looked up to. More than anything, he wanted to prevent that from happening.

* * *

A/N: Parallels exist between Jack and Rhys. Both low level positions that worked their way up to becoming the leader of a company, seemingly unbreakable hero complexes, and hold all the cards to what they want to do with their power. Jack was betrayed by the people he cared about, and then Handsome Jack became his replacement. What's to stop Rhys from becoming the same if he loses people he cares about? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Fear and loss will harden people to where it's almost like they come completely different people. The result of that happening all depends on the person and the decisions they make from that point onward. The possibility of war still looms. If that happens, people will die and people will change. For the good or the bad.


	22. Chapter 22 - Espionage

A/N: I do appreciate the support for this story. I'm glad to see that even though I'm not the best writer in the world, I can make stories that can get the attention of 100 people. Overwhelming numbers, when I think about it. You all are awesome.

* * *

"What do you mean some type of car?" Mordecai asked.

"I already told you. I don't know all the details. He was very careful about that. All I know is that he paid me to let him add his vehicle to the Catch-A-Ride system. I didn't bother asking questions when you have five million dollars staring you in the face," Ellie told him, her tone somewhat impatient.

"Since you own the car system, you should be able to show us," Lilith said.

"Nope. If I knew how to lock vehicles behind a code, this wouldn't be the case. But I'm not the best when it comes to these machines. That was more of momma's talent. He did it himself, so only he knows the passcode to unlock it. And Lord knows what it could be," Ellie said, making Lilith frown even more. She didn't like the sound of that. Some secret vehicle that he obviously didn't want the public to see. That didn't bear good tidings at all.

"I don't like the sound of that," she said.

"You haven't been liking much of anything these days," Mordecai told her.

"Well, it hasn't been a very cheerful few months. Between this secret vehicle he's got as well as some Atlas soldiers I heard are making bases in several locations, I don't know what he has planned," Lilith reminded him.

"Vehicles are only good on land, and Sanctuary is way up in the sky. At the very least, the city is safe from whatever he made," Mordecai told her.

"Yeah, but what about the bases we've got set up all around here? I'm not sure if I want sit around and wait for him to build on whatever he's doing. That's just asking for trouble," Lilith said.

"You're right. I'll do a little spying. See if I can figure out what he's up to," Mordecai said, making Lilith nod. Ellie only shook her head. This couldn't possibly lead to anything good...

* * *

"So... she still upset with you?" Gaige asked idly as she grabbed a tool from the chest next to her.

"Sasha? Not necessarily upset. She's just been avoiding me. It's not as bad as I expected, but it's still bothersome," Rhys said. There was an upgrade Rhys wanted to install in his arm, so he got Gaige to help him with it. It would go a lot quicker than if he were to try and do it himself.

"Not your fault you and Moxxi hit it off while you weren't around her. It was over a year. You had time to get over her and move on, so you thought it would make sense for her to have already done the same," Gaige said in a logical tone.

"Putting logic in matters like this doesn't really work," Rhys said.

"True. But it just would've been easier for her if that was the case," Gaige said.

"I definitely want to still be friends with her. I can't necessarily tell her that because it's horribly cliche, but it's true," Rhys said.

"Just corner her. Get everything situated," Gaige said, her expression shifting slightly as she adjusted the small repulsor core she installed.

"That's probably what I'm going to have to do. I don't see any alternative," Rhys said before tilting his head at Gaige. "How are you by the way?

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, I haven't talked to you in a few days. I've been a bit preoccupied," Rhys said.

"Lemme guess. Moxxi's been sucking your lips when you're not working, eating, or in the bathroom," Gaige said, making Rhys turn slightly red. But the smile on his face made her roll her eyes.

"How is it you were spot on?" Rhys asked.

"Because it's kinda obvious considering who you're dating," Gaige said.

"True. But hey. I don't complain. Christ almighty, that woman can kiss," Rhys said, getting a slightly dazed look on his face at the thought.

 _"This would be easier to deal with if he wasn't clueless,"_ Gaige thought as she closed the arm.

"That it?" Rhys asked, flexing his robotic fingers.

"Test it," Gaige said, backing up. Rhys flexed the fingers one more time before his processor located the new repulsor that was added before aiming it at the target dummy they set up and it was launched into the wall with rapid force. But since the wall was tougher than the material of the dummy, it broke into pieces.

"Well, that settles that. It works," Rhys said as he stood to his feet. Then he looked to Gaige with a smile. "As if there were any doubt."

"There wasn't. I am perfectly good at what I do, thank you very much," Gaige said in a somewhat haughty tone.

"You are. You're a very talented inventor. That's not even accounting your age. How old were you when you first starting putting inventions together?" Rhys asked.

"Thirteen. Technology was something I got very familiar with, and eventually I just wanted to learn how to make my own inventions. So I started learning everything there is to know about putting stuff together. Now here I am at the age of twenty helping out the owner of Atlas who happens to be one of my best friends," Gaige said, holding her hands out at her side with a small smile.

"And I do appreciate it. All of this. You could've been just like Mordecai or Lilith when you first laid eyes on me. But you didn't. You actually thought instead acting on nothing but blind faith. And it's lead to all of this since then. Needless to say, I forgive you for shooting at me," Rhys said with a smirk, making her nudge him in the gut.

"Hey. By all intents and purposes, I should've finished the job. But I didn't," Gaige said, raising a finger.

"And I'm grateful for that. But I still forgive you," Rhys said with a grin, making Gaige roll her eyes.

"I just can't with you," she said.

"Then don't," Rhys said with a grin.

"You know me better than that," Gaige said, a grin eventually breaking out.

"Then you deserve everything that will befall you," Rhys said in a cliche knight voice.

"You are a dork!" Gaige said, nudging him hard. She still couldn't stop laughing.

"I've heard that a lot. And I'm still proud of it. Anyway, have you talked to Maya lately?" Rhys asked.

"Why do you want to speak with her anyway?" Gaige asked.

"Expansion. After all, four Vault Hunters are better than three," Rhys said.

"Once or twice. While I told her that working for you was better than working for the Raiders, she seemed adamant on staying. Don't know why," Gaige said.

"I really don't want have to fight her. Besides the fact that she's a Siren. She was one of the only people who stood her ground for me when I first went to Sanctuary. I guess when she gives her loyalty to something, it'll take something drastic to change her mind," Rhys said, sounding somewhat put out.

"Well... I have a suggestion. If you can build this, you have to promise me that you won't use it like Jack did," Gaige said. Immediately Rhys' expression darkened.

"I don't want anything that madman has," he said.

"I know, but this might be a case of need, not want," Gaige told him. Rhys sighed.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Back on the Control Core, there was this collar Jack used on Lilith. I don't know how to make it or what it's even made of, but somehow, not only was Jack able to control her powers, but he was able to control her to a certain extent. Like, she had to take commands from him. Do whatever he wanted," Gaige said, looking somewhat sick at the memory.

"A behaviorial control collar. Those things are expensive. And when I say expensive, I don't mean a couple of hundred thousand. More like hundreds of millions leading into the billions. For one collar. But if they work on Sirens..."

"You essentially have a powerful slave," Gaige finished.

"Almost no one in this world knows how to make them, the materials required are expensive, and they're unethical. Even for Pandora. It's why they're only mentioned, never seen. There aren't even pictures of them," Rhys told her.

"Guess I'm not surprised that Jack met all those requirements. An excess amount of funds, the smarts to make them, and exceeding the crazy meter to where he ranks 'fucking psychotic tyrant' on my meter," Gaige said. "But if it can be made..."

"...it might be worth using. But making someone a slave? I don't care who it is. I don't like that," Rhys told her, shaking his head.

"You don't have to use it like that. Just get it around Lilith or Maya's neck and they can't use their powers. Because while I know you don't wanna fight, there is the chance that you're not going to have much of a choice," Gaige reminded him.

"You don't think I know that? I have no love for the Raiders, far from it, but I'm not going to go looking for a fight. But if they start one, I have no qualms killing all of them. And that's the part that leaves me uneasy. Sure I've killed bandits and Hyperion personnel before, but in this situation, I feel like I wouldn't stop until all of them were dead. Until there was no trace. Even the people unrelated to the fighting. And I can't help but want to avoid any similaries between me and Jack at all costs. It's bad enough my path is parallel to his. I could definitely do without any more," Rhys explained as he stood to his feet. "Anyway, thanks for your help with my arm."

"Rhys, you have to learn what war is about. It involves doing a lot of things you don't want to. And preparing to lose people you don't want to lose. You need to use whatever you can win. But you don't have to lose who you are. What you stand for," Gaige said.

"That's the part that scares me the most," Rhys said.

"You won't change. I won't let you," Gaige said firmly, a fire in her eyes. "Neither will Moxxi, for that matter. That's why I'm here instead of working with the Raiders."

"I'll... I'll do my best," Rhys said, walking out of the room. It's this conversion that was the cause of him sitting at his desk for hours just thinking.

* * *

"I could use a drink," Axton said, cracking his neck as he took a seat.

"Long day, handsome?" Moxxi said as she passed him a lager.

"You could say that. When I agreed to help train a bunch of soldiers, I did not know that it would be this exhausting. Don't get me wrong. Most of them that he hired were already well trained, but the ones that aren't have a long way to go. They can hold their gun straight and shoot halfway decent. That's about as good as they get," Axton said, uncapping the drink.

"Sounds fun," Moxxi said with a small chuckle. Axton only gave her a withering glance before letting the subject pass.

"So... you and the owner of Atlas, huh? I see you aim high," he said, making Moxxi smile a little.

"This relationship wasn't intended at first it just sort of... happened," she said.

"'Sort of happened.' Me ending up on Pandora just 'sort of happened,' and surprisingly, it did not turn out all that bad," Axton said.

"This turned out more than 'not bad' to be honest. Turned out much better than I could've ever seen it," Moxxi said with a small smile.

"I can see that. So..." Axton said casually as he raised the lager to his lips. "...you two fucked yet?"

Before his lips reached the bottle, a hand forcefully smacked the back of his head. The force nearly made him spill his lager. Then he looked up to see Moxxi with a somewhat irritated expression on her face.

"Can you at least try to pretend you don't have a mind that's always in the gutter?" Moxxi asked, making Axton burst out laughing.

"I cannot believe _you_ of all people are telling me that. What is this world coming to?" he said with a shake of his head. Moxxi couldn't resist a grin herself.

"Alright, you got a point there. But to answer your incredibly blunt question, no. We haven't," she said evenly.

"Not yet," Axton said in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone.

"Not yet," Moxxi confirmed.

"I'm sure it's going to be an interesting night. Both of you have that kind of look that would guarantee a good lay, if not great," Axton said casually as he took another drink.

"Out of curiosity, how can you see that?" Moxxi asked.

"Well, it's kind of obvious but..." Axton looked around him, and Moxxi laughed briefly. He was checking whether or not Rhys was around. Oh, boy. She'd better prepare herself.

"...you're hot. Great merchendise. Boobs, butt, everything. And as for Mr. Atlas, he's definitely got that ruggish handsome look going with the scars, but still got the boyish look going on so that he looks young. Not to mention the subtle muscles. Not like Brick or Sal had going on, but..." Axton bit his lip gently with his mind trying to imagine it. He swung for both teams, but was he swinging a little more on Rhys' team than Moxxi's. At least in this case.

"Am I going to have to watch you around my boyfriend?" Moxxi asked dryly.

"If I had indication he swung the same way I do, you might've had to," Axton said, draining his lager as Moxxi laughed.

"I really need to get you a date," she said, dropping a lager next to him.

"Probably still wouldn't stop me imagining being a part of your 'office activities,'" Axton said, raising his eyebrows up and down suggestively.

"You've got some interesting fantasies," Moxxi said as she wiped the counters.

"It could come true. I know it'd be an interesting time we'd have together. Especially for Rhys. There are some things even you wouldn't be able to do better than me," Axton said haughtily, making Moxxi laugh.

"I rock his world as we stand now, and we haven't even started anything involving taking off clothes. You think you can compete with me on that?" she questioned with a raised brow.

"I could try. An experiment if you will," Axton said casually.

"Nice try. Even if I was willing to let you do as you wished, there's the likely chance that if he doesn't swing that way, he's going to break your dick before tossing you out of the city," Moxxi said, making Axton wince slightly.

"You have a point there. I heard what he did to that one Lancemen, and I have to say that you got yourself a keeper there," Axton said. "Violent, good looking in his own little way, and surprisingly well mannered at the same time."

"Don't have to tell me twice. That's why I'm not letting you or anyone else near him," Moxxi said. That wasn't necessarily true. Depending how Gaige still thought about Rhys, that may have been the only exception. She acutally cared for him. But the chances Rhys thinking about a relationship between the three of them seemed remote. Then again, she thought that the possibility of a selfless Hyperion was remote. Then Rhys dropped in.

"I got the hint. It's more or less me thinking about the fact that I haven't dated or had sex in a while. One of the two has got to give," Axton said with a shrug.

"Keep looking. If you have my luck, you'll find a Rhys of your own. At least you're not privy to whether or not they're male or female, so that doubles your odds," Moxxi told him.

"Can never go wrong with making your odds better," Axton said.

"Odds on what?" Sasha asked, suddenly walking in. Her appearence surprised Moxxi, but Axton seemed unaffected.

"Me finding a date. The fact that I don't care about gender doubles my odds," Axton said casually, drinking out of his lager again. Sasha raised her eyebrows at the statement, but didn't inquire further. Then she turned to Moxxi.

"Mind if I talk to you for a bit? Privately," Sasha said evenly. Axton saw that as his cue to leave. The only thing he could hope for was that this didn't turn into a cat fight.

"Well, I'll take that as my cue," Axton said as he placed money on the table. "Mind if I get a few more for the road?"

"Sure thing sugar," Moxxi said, giving him three more bottles. "I will warn you. Getting drunk around this place isn't the best idea. At least for you. Lord knows what you might do under the influence."

"Something that I want to do, but know I shouldn't. Like rip the clothes off you, your boyfriend, or both of you," Axton said. Sasha didn't know whether to feel stunned or put out from Axton's statement.

"You might not have any privates to have sex with if you do something like that on Rhys," Moxxi said before giving him a steely look. "Same goes for me."

"I got it, I got it. Look but don't touch. I'll see you later," Axton said, waving goodbye to both of the ladies. Moxxi shook her head with a smile on her face. Axton was a perverted bastard most of the time(Yes, she realized that she had no room to talk), but he could definitely be a sweetheart.

"He's... interesting," Sasha said, somewhat awkwardly.

"That's Axton for you. He grows you after a while though, to be honest," Moxxi said before looking at Sasha with a somewhat serious look. "Any reason you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah, there is. First off, I know there's nothing that I can say or do that will get you that will get you to back off Rhys..."

"And you would be right," Moxxi said, her gaze hardening slightly.

 _"Not_ that I would want you to in the first place. Well, that's half true, but that's just me getting off topic. As much as I wanted to avoid seeing you two interact, there were some instances where that was unavoidable. And I've seen an unnatural amount of smiling, smirking, and naughty looks shared between the two of you. The first one more than anything. So you actually make him happy. I won't disagree with that and say that he'd be happier with me because he's happy now. And that's important," Sasha said.

Moxxi nodded in agreement. She was glad to see that she was having a fairly civilized and mature conversation with this woman. Trust me, when it came to relationships, not all of the conversations she had with other females(and sometimes males) were as pleasant as this. If Moxxi never came into the picture, she could safely say that he would've had a decent relationship with the girl in front of her. From what few interactions she had seen between the two, they got along great. But Rhys was hers. And that was something she preferred much more.

"But I do know this. Regardless whether he wants to date me or not, I want to know where you stand with Rhys. Cause I swear to God if you plan on treating him like some fling, I will hurt you," Sasha said. Her tone didn't hold venom, but it held a dark intent. And she supposed she could understand her threat.

"I'm going to assure you that I am very serious about where I stand with Rhys. Regardless of how I am percieved, I am serious when it comes to relationships. And you can be sure than I will hold onto this one, as I have never met anyone like Rhys," Moxxi assured her.

"Just wanted to make sure I knew where we stood," Sasha said before sighing and taking a seat.

"I am going to recognize this as the brooding cycle of this talk," Moxxi said.

"I pretty much have no choice but to get over it. I'm more than happy that Rhys is alive, but I am not happy about the fact that you got to him first," Sasha said.

"That's understandable," Moxxi said. "What did you before you met Rhys?"

"Me and my sister were con artists. Now we've more or less moved on to the mercenary. As long there are places to see and people to kill, we'll always have money in our pockets," Sasha said.

"On Pandora, there's always something to kill. I don't know how, but bandits are like skags on this planet. They're everywhere," Moxxi said.

"Maybe one day they'll all be gone," Sasha said, making Moxxi snort.

"That'll take a miracle. Pandora's just one of those planets that makes it real easy to earn money. That is, if you don't die within the first thirty seconds of setting foot on the surface," Moxxi said, grabbing a bottle and wiping down the outside of it.

"I lasted the first thirty seconds. If I didn't have Loader Bot on standby at the time, I didn't see me or Vaughn lasting the first five minutes however," Rhys said, walking in the bar.

"Good thing, huh?" Moxxi said, grabbing a lager and tossing it in his direction. Rhys caught it effortlessly before his eyes darted between Sasha and Moxxi quickly.

"Have I walked in at the wrong time?" he asked, uncapping his drink.

"No, we're fine. Just a little girl talk," Sasha said, Moxxi nodding in agreement.

"Oh. Then I _definitely_ walked in at the wrong time," Rhys said with a grin.

"Oh, shut up you!" Moxxi said, whacking him on the shoulder with a grin as he sat down. Rhys had a smirk on his face like he was about to retort with a statement in mind, but he caught Sasha out of the corner of his eye, and his mouth ended up snapping shut.

"While I won't lie that I'm not necessarily thrilled about the fact that you're dating, I have accepted the fact. Hell, I'm even happy for you," Sasha said, making Rhys' eyes widen slightly. "So as long as you don't smother the room with innuendo, I'll be fine."

"Have you met Moxxi?" Rhys questioned, jerking his thumb at her.

"You act like I'm the only cuplrit in this situation," Moxxi said, raising an eyebrow.

"That's because you are. I was perfectly innocent until you roped me into firing off carnal sayings like an assault rifle," Rhys said dryly. Moxxi then looked at Sasha, a thumb jerked in his direction.

"You see what I have to deal with?" she said, making Sasha shake her head with a grin on her face.

"Everyone loves me," Rhys said haugtily.

"Yeah, we all love the ego that took over Pandora," Sasha said with a roll of her eyes. Rhys only grinned.

"Egos are only deserved for the people who earn them. And I..."

"...am not one of those people," Sasha said with a pointed look.

"Ah, there's that boisterous attitude I missed so much," Rhys said dryly, but his eyes were twinkling in amusement. Sasha laughed as she playfully hit his arm. Even if she couldn't have him in a relationship, she missed this insane goofball.

* * *

Mordecai double checked his ammo count. He was fully stocked. Hopefully he wouldn't need any bullets. Still, nothing wrong with being prepared.

With a glance around the area as he sat in a Runner, he saw that all of Eridium Blight still hadn't changed. Then again, it was hard to reverse all the damage Jack had done to it. The air almost felt toxic to breathe with ash constantly flying in the air. Mordecai had to keep his mouth shut if he didn't want to choke. It might be a good idea to invest a mouth part for his mask.

Driving past the area where a Hyperion turret used to be set up near the bounty board, he looked over to the side where a previously Hyperion occupied outpost was now occupied by Atlas. And the changes in design were very noticeable. The bastard certainly wasn't hiding the fact that he was looking to get control over Pandora, now was he? Another time. Another time he'd come over here shooting. Right now, he just needed info.

 _"The Arid Nexus was where the Info Stockade was as well as tons of Hyperion outposts, so that would be a perfect base of operations,"_ Mordecai thought. Hopefully this is where he was actually hiding. Would've made their job easier if they had taken over the Hyperion outposts for their side instead of rebuilding like Lilith insisted, but there was no point in crying over something they should've done. All that matters was taking care of the here and now.

The first thing Mordecai notoiced when entering the Boneyard where the Fast Travel was located was the significant lack of Hyperion stamped all over the place, and in its place, was Atlas. The distaste of this jackass continuing where Jack left off was making its way to the surface. In due time though. They had more numbers, and even he had a few Vault Hunters, so did they. Two Sirens, at that.

He grabbed another car once reached and driving near what was once a pumping station, the pipleline itself was still intact, but the interior of the base had been changed. Looking through the scope of one of his snipers as he stood on top his car, he saw that a lot of the moonshot containers were gone. But there were a lot more soldiers patrolling the area. Along with... were those scientists? He definitely needed a closer look.

He swapped to a different sniper in his ECHO. The sniper he drew didn't hold bullets, but rather devices to bug bases. Plus the gun was silenced, which was a plus. And not at all common on Pandora. So he stuck it directly on top of the buildings, making a relatively soft impact with a 'twack' sound. One of the soldiers looked around, but shook his head in dismissal.

Mordecai changed his ECHO frequency to that of the bug he placed in the base. But unfortunately, all he got was static. Seems like he had some type of interference jammer. Mordecai growled. He'd have to listen for anything important himself. Good thing that he had one of the many cloaking shields used by some of the Hyperion soldiers.

Getting his car and parking it a significant distance away and out of sight, but not too far away, he made his way over to the base while relatively invisible. Unless they had thermal technology(which he hoped to God they didn't) or good eyesight(which he doubted considering most of them were wearing helmets), he should be fine to sneak up on them.

Using his trusty jagged blade, he used it to help get up to the pipeline. This had a perfect view of most of the base and unless they were looking really hard in the distance, there was no way they would see him. Especially since the sun was shining for this direction. He could feel the heat on the back of his head. That was why he picked this position on the pipeline.

 _"Now if I just enhance my ECHOs communication detector a little..."_ Mordecai thought as he pressed a few buttons on his ECHO. Eventually, voices started coming out of his ECHO. Perfect. The range on these detectors wasn't very far, but they couldn't be jammed, which was a plus. Then he saw a scientist walking up to a few soldiers, who seemed to be holding a couple of crates.

 _"Here's your animal parts Doc,"_ one of the soldiers said gruffly as he raised a box effortlessly while keeping his Jakobs assault rifle in his left hand.

 _"Animal parts?"_ Mordecai thought with a frown. Was he doing some Exploitation Preserve level experimenting? He tried not to think of Bloodwing dying in that place.

 _"Thanks. I hope those Varkids didn't give you too much trouble,"_ the scientist said, grabbing the first box and gesturing for the soldiers to follow him.

 _"You don't have to worry about that. Mr. Atlas pays us enough to where the trouble is worth it,"_ the first soldier said with a nonchalant shurg.

 _"Easy for you to say. Those damn Varkids gets violent after the second evolution,"_ the second soldier said gruffly.

 _"You're just mad cause it nicked you on the arm. Jam a hypo into the wound like a drug addict, and you'll be fine in seconds. If it were up to me, we would've seen if we could've even got him those legendary samples,"_ the first soldier told the scientist.

 _"Are you insane John? You do you know how deadly that Varkid form is? The loot that comes from it is crazy, but it's hard to kill and can just as easily kill us without batting an eyelash. The only people who took that thing down were the Vault Hunters who killed Jack, and they have skill even we can't compare to,"_ the third soldier interjected as they started to enter the building. From this point, Mordecai couldn't see what they were doing. But at least he could still hear them.

 _"Why does he even need the Varkid parts?"_ Mordecai thought.

 _"Are you afraid of a wittle Vermi, Endon?"_ John said in a mocking voice.

"Yes. _Because Vermivorous is not 'wittle' as you put it. That is a gigantic creature of death. I know because the Commando of the group took a picture of himself next to its corpse, and put it on the ECHOnet. Judging by the comparison of size, it's at least thirty feet long. Possibly way longer,"_ Endon said, placing a box down when the scientist gave him the go ahead.

 _"We're soldiers in one of the best armies if not the best army in the galaxy, and you're afraid of a giant bug?"_ John questioned.

 _"Are you even worth one Crimson Raider?"_ Mordecai retorted mentally.

 _"We need a much bigger team to kill that thing. It'd be suicide if it was just the three of us,"_ the second soldier said.

 _"When you recover from your boo boos Cent and grow a pair, we'll go Varkid hunting. We do that, we might haul in a little extra money. At the very least, we'll get a better reputation,"_ John said.

 _"It's more than likely we'll be dead before that happens John,"_ Endon told him.

 _"I'm with Endon here,"_ Cent said. John just snorted and put his box down before mumbling something about no sense of adventure.

 _"Well, I thank you for the Varkid parts,"_ the scientist suddenly said, interrupting their argument. _"I didn't recommend the Badass Varkid parts, but they should definitely help regardless. If I need better parts, I'll contact the boss about getting more soldiers on the job."_

 _"What are his plans with those parts, or is it top secret?"_ Cent said.

 _"No, he doesn't really care about who knows the project. He's got a theory that with the right analyzation, the DNA Varkids hold can serve as some sort of cure for irregular growths or serve as a cure for amputated limbs. Maybe both,"_ the scientist said, making Mordecai's eyebrows raise.

 _"Some company bigshot spending his money to help people,"_ John said with a chuckle. _"I'd never thought I'd see the day."_

 _"Heh. You and me both. Whether he was trying to help humanity or kill it, I'd still do the job. But it's nice we're doing something that could be seen as moral,"_ the scientist said, opening the crates and viewing the Varkid parts.

 _"On this planet, no, in this universe, there's no such thing as moral. People just do what they want to do. And if he wants to do this, hey. All power to him. As long as I got the money in my account, I'm not complaining,"_ John said with a shrug.

 _"Have either of you met him yet?"_ Endon asked.

 _"The owner of Atlas and as of right now, our boss? Nah, he doesn't really leave wherever he's holed up. Now that there's a secret. No one knows where he's set up but him, his friends, and the soldiers that he deemed his Royal Guard. You know Reaper got a spot as his Royal Guard?"_ John said, making Mordecai grunt impatiently. The bastard was a lot smarter than just brains. He knew not to give away his location to just anyone. Woud've made it easier on them if he was just that dumb.

 _"Not surprised. Reaper's got the kill count of a small moon under his belt. He's one of the best soldiers in the army,"_ Cent said.

 _"Well, he can't divulge the location nor can he give any hints, but he was able to tell us what it's like there. There's a shooting range, but it's nothing like actually getting out there and shooting something that's shooting back. Plenty of booze there as well, which is nice. But he also sees the boss' eye candy walk by a few times. You heard of Mad Moxxi?"_ John asked. Here Mordecai tightened his fists as he listened.

 _"Who hasn't? Anyone who likes sexy women and a whole bunch of death has seen the Underdome. I heard she was in Sanctuary with the boss' enemies. Now she's there. Give how cautious he's been so far, I hope it doesn't come crumbling down because of some tart with balloon tits,"_ Cent said in his trademark gruff tone.

 _"No, from what I understand, she earned his trust,"_ the scientist suddenly said as he was putting samples in petri dishes.

 _"I'm sure if you send most men on a wild ride like she most likely does every day, it wouldn't be that hard,"_ Endon said.

 _"Better not hear the boss hear you say that. Reaper said he broke the fingers of one dude for talking under his breath about her. He said it was because he wasn't paying attention to his job, but everyone knows what it was about. So if he's listening, you might wanna keep those thoughts to yourself,"_ John warned.

 _"He's that protective over some eye candy?"_ Endon asked.

 _"Guess so. Guess he doesn't like anyone talking about what's his. So I recommend keeping the comments to yourself in case he comes down for an inspection or something,"_ John told him before looking at the scientist. _"We done here?_

 _"Yeah, you can get back to patrol duty or whatever. I could use the quiet to examine these samples,"_ the scientist said.

 _"Alright, then we'll get back to it,"_ Cent said, walking off with his fellow soldiers.

Mordecai made his way down the pipeline, unable to make sense of the conversation he just listened to.


	23. Chapter 23 - A New Turn of Events

"So what'd you find out?" Lilith asked Mordecai as soon as he walked in.

"He's doing something with Varkids. He hired a few scientists to work on their evolution capabilities," Mordecai explained.

"So what? Is he plan on mutating his soldiers or something?" Lilith asked.

"No. Apparently, he's got plans to use the research to try and find cures from amputation or irregular growth. Something along those lines," Mordecai said, making Lilith raise her eyebrows.

"You cannot be serious," she said.

"It's what the scientist said. I don't really believe it myself," Mordecai said. But it still didn't stop the sneaky thought that he would have no reason to lie to his own men about what he wanted to use the research for. It'd be a waste of time and money.

"Anything else?" Lilith asked.

"We were right about that sneaking suspicion that Moxxi went with him. It seems all of his men know about her," Mordecai added.

"And judging by the sound of things, that's it. Nothing really that important," Lilith said almost dismissively.

"All that they were willing to talk about that had any relative importance," Mordecai said.

"I still don't like the fact that he bothered to assemble an army. Then again, any corporation has to have muscle. Otherwise, it just makes it real easy to lose things if you don't have a military," Lilith said, crossing her arms.

"I really doubt you're going to find anything you could possibly use against him," Maya said when she walked in, her face impassive. Lilith and Mordecai both looked at her while Brick stopped doing his pushups to start paying more attention to the conversation.

"And why's that?" Mordecai asked.

"Because from what I've seen of him when he was here, he was quiet and kept to himself and his other projects. He only talked with people that gave him the light of day. I don't see why he would change routine," Maya said simply.

"Maybe the fact that we're not watching him helps with that," Lilith reminded her.

"Point, but I still have my doubts. Personally, I only see things going wrong if you do a Jack on him," Maya said, making Lilith stiffen.

"What is that even supposed to mean?" she asked.

"I'm sure you can figure it out. After all, we all heard the story Athena told. A phrase comes to mind when it comes to this situation. 'Don't start anything, and there won't be anything.' We helped you out with one war, and the only reason we were even involved in it was because Jack tried to kill us. And you don't even have all of the Vault Hunters who supported you through that. Nor do you have Angel. If you start another war because you can't stop being paranoid about who somebody used to be, I'm not going to be a part of it. I will gladly pay Atlas for a shuttle off Pandora. He's building what Jack's building, minus the loaders and moonshot strikes. Think carefully before you act," Maya explained to her fellow Siren, fixing her with a serious stare. Then she placed a few items in the safe before walking down the stairs.

"Do you think she's right?" Brick asked.

"I don't know. Given everything that's happened, I have no reason to believe Hyperions change. But Zer0 left our side to be with him. So did Axton, Moxxi, and Gaige. And they absolutely hated Hyperion," Lilith said thoughtfully.

"What do you reckon?" Mordecai asked.

"I don't know. I really don't," Lilith said, shaking her head.

"Ahem. I'd hate to interrupt, but right now, it seems you need all the help you can get," a new voice said, walking into the room with heavy footsteps.

"What is-" Lilith was cut off by a contact alert. "Hold on. It's the Raider group we sent out to take care of a few bandit bases."

"What are they doing contacting us? One Lancemen is worth a lot of bandits, let alone a dozen of them," Mordecai asked.

"Can't be good if they're contacting us," Brick said as Lilith patched the call through.

* * *

"I think they wanna play, shotty!" a bandit exclaimed.

"Oh, I want to play," Rhys said, smoothly turning on his heel and shooting the bandit in the face with his Chimera. His face fell victim to both the explosive part of the bullet taking a chunk out and the corrosive effect eating what was left. "Fun game."

"Christ, you're so dry," Gaige said as she unloaded the rest of her Dahl pistol clip into a bandit's face. Meanwhile, Zer0 was moving through the area swiftly; not even bothering to cloak himself as he cut down many bandits. Nomads, goliaths, and other bandits fell either by Zer0's blade or bullets coming from Gaige, Rhys, or Axton.

"Call it charm," Rhys said as he twirled his revolver. Rather than the suit he normally wore while around the base, he wore a black tank top with cargo pants. He unconsciously grinned at the whistle he got from Moxxi when she saw. She liked the more rough and tough look. He preferred his suits, but he didn't mind wearing stuff like this when it came to the dirty work.

"What charm?" Gaige asked rhetorically as she lowered her gun. "That's another camp down. You have soldiers. I don't understand why you don't just send them to attack these camps."

"Well, that's no fun. I like killing things too you know, and it's a few days before the next Underdome starts," Rhys said, still twirling his revolver.

"Amen to that. It gets boring awfully fast sometimes," Axton said, laying his rifle on his shoulder.

"This is a pleasant surprise." Rhys suddenly stopped and grasped his revolver at the sound of the voice. He turned to see a dozen Raiders standing there, all walking towards the camp.

"'Pleasant is subjective.' That would suggest that both parties enjoy each other's company. And that is most certainly not the case," Rhys said, looking at the group distastefully. The black armor of the guy who was talking was very familiar. It was the guy that Rhys nearly beat to death upon leaving Sanctuary. Granted, he was the first one to start throwing punches.

"Pleasant for us, I mean. You see, I know Lilith would really like your head brought to her. And so would I, for that matter. I haven't forgotten about what you did to me," Jameson said, his smile showing even behind his helmet.

"Like you didn't deserve it. But that's neither here nor there," Rhys said, managing to compose himself and look at the Raiders impassively.

"Move along. Now," Gaige said firmly.

"We don't take orders from you anymore," one of the other Raiders said, cocking his gun with a click. Replacing the mag in her pistol, the cold fury on her face seemed to make the click even louder.

"Trust me when I say that it's for your benefit," she said, her pistol elevated next to her head.

"There does not have to be any trouble here," Rhys said evenly. Even though the rational part of him was speaking, the part of him that ached to finish the job was still there. To slice a grotesque grin on that face. Ear to ear.

"Too late for that," Jameson said before raising his gun. The three Vault Hunters and the owner of Atlas all dived behind cover from the hail of bullets that came in their direction.

"I've had enough of this. I've had enough of keeping my head down. Kill them," Rhys said coldly before he sat up with the shield function on his arm activated.

Those were all the words of encouragement everyone needed. Zer0 cloaked himself, Axton threw one turret to each side of them, and Gaige summoned Deathtrap on the field.

It's hard to survive being on the receiving end of two Commando turrets, Deathtrap, a sneaking Zer0, and the bullets from three parties could be a bit much for anyone. But there was a reason Crimson Raiders, former Lancemen, were considered the best soldiers in the galaxy, once upon a time.

Two Raiders ended up dying from the volley of rockets that the turrets were launching, but two of them, already thinking on their feet, slowly rolled a MIRV grenade under the shields of the turrets and got them out of the fight quick. But that was a perfect opportunity for Deathtrap to get close. The robot let out of a small growl before spinning in circles, claws out.

Every Raider was forced to scatter to avoid being skewered by the robot's claws. Rhys immediately took notice of several Raiders approaching on his right side. Taking a split second to aim, he blasted one of the Raiders on the head with his Chimera. The first bullets added the shock element to the default explosive bullet, and the second held fire. His shield definitely wasn't holding up to two headshots with those two elements, so he fell to the ground dead in the middle of his dive.

 _"That shouldn't be more satisfying than killing a bandit. That really shouldn't,"_ Rhys thought as he tightened the hold on his revolver. The force of bullets hitting his arm's shield snapped him out of his daze.

The others weren't dallying either. Zer0 swiped his blade once, and off came three heads. He was already gone when the two Raiders that were next to him started shooting in that area. Gaige and Axton took potshots and they got a few bullets into one guy's leg with another taking a bullet in the sternum. Over on the other side, one of the Raiders was ranting at Jameson while trying to keep their heads down.

"Do you really think it was a good idea challenging Vault Hunters?" he questioned as he looked behind him and saw Deathtrap heading towards the two soldiers across from them. "I was all for dealing with the Hyperion, but we are outmatched so many times over against the Assassin alone."

"I realize that. At the very least, we'll be able to get a message out," Jameson said, going for his ECHO.

"If Zer0 wanted to, they'd all be rid of their heads already," Rhys said as they were talking.

"Which means he's leaving the rest of them to us. Which suits me just fine," Axton said, replacing his mag.

"Leave the one in the black armor to me. He's mine," Rhys said, his voice laced with a dark undertone that no one missed. Then, swapping his Chimera with a shock rain grenade, he tossed the grenade over in the area where the four Raiders were taking cover.

Several things happened in that moment. Deathtrap sliced his claws through one Raider's head, but his friend that was next to him got a few corrosive shots on him to take him down. But the four Raiders hiding on the opposite had to dive out of the way of the Rain grenade. None of them got hit by it, but they were vulnerable to the hail of bullets that were about to be headed their way.

Rhys decided on the old school Bitch, Gaige a shock Maliwan SMG, and Axton a Vladof assault rifle. The Raiders started firing back while running to try and find cover behind the various bandit shacks that were on fire due to the battle that occurred moments before.

Gaige's SMG wiped the shields of one Raider, and the bullets from the Bitch right after rendered his brain useless after a few headshots. Three left.

 _"What in the hell is going on there?"_ Lilith asked once Jameson finally got his ECHO on. _"Surely you're not having issues with bandits?"_

"It's not the bandits that're the problem. It's the..." Jameson was cut off by a red blade stopping directly in front of his helmet. Also from behind him, he could feel a small prod from the back of his skull through his helmet. He could tell it was a similar blade, so he didn't dare move a muscle.

"Drop it," Rhys said in a growl, uncloaking himself. Jameson gladly listened, dropping the ECHO to the side. Rhys walked over to it, and, raising his sword, cut it in half. ECHOs took so much punishment, it was ridiculous. He thought about smashing it with his boot, but it was way too tough for that.

"I should have killed you," Jameson said, his voice coming out in a growl.

"You should have. But you found having a punching bag too good of a perk to ignore," Rhys said as he removed his helmet and slashing his cheek. The cut stung, but it was ignored easily. The simple gesture alone is what irritated him.

"Gonna kill me now?" Jameson asked.

"I would most certainly like to," Rhys said, his eyes narrowed in anger.

"Then do it. Finish what your hero Jack st-"

"He is _not_ my hero. I am glad that son of a bitch is dead," Rhys growled, his metal hand choking the life out of him. Jameson grasped at the metal hand that was on his throat, trying unsuccessfully pry the grip off. Rhys' grip stayed the same, but his face seemed to level out to a more calm expression before headbutting him in the face to knock him out.

"He's still breathing," Axton said, walking over to him and Zer0 with Gaige.

"I know. I'm not going to kill him. Not yet anyway," Rhys said, picking him up and putting him on his shoulders. It would be extremely hard to shoot while in this position, but there would be no problem once they got to the Fast Travel.

"What _are_ you going to do with him?" Gaige asked.

"I don't know yet. I'll decide when I get there," Rhys said before looking to the side. He set Jameson down before grabbing the gigantic mask off a Nomad Taskmaster before putting it on his head. It was way too large for the Lancemen's head, so it fit around his head like a bag. A slight adjustment and a slew of rope, and it made for a perfect way to hide his face to anything he could've used to possibly identify that the place was Old Haven. He cut a hole into his mouth so he could breath before picking him back up again.

"Make no mistake. This could possibly end in disaster," Zer0 told him. "It is unlikely the Raiders did not distinguish your voice in the brief moment he had his ECHO on."

"You're right. Still, they're the ones looking for us. That resulted in their men unnecessarily getting killed. I refuse to ask any of you to hold back just because we're looking to avoid war. There's a difference between being careful and being weak. And I refuse to let any of us be seen as weak," Rhys said, his voice firm.

"Should we get ready for a fight?" Gaige asked.

"Probably. I'll let the soldiers know they should probably be on high alert," Rhys said.

* * *

"That voice was unmistakable. He intercepted that patrol," Mordecai said.

"Sounds like it. My question is how he knew that that one Raider would be in the group," Lilith asked.

"Which Raider?" Brick asked.

"When he left, there was a Raider he had beat up to use as a bargaining chip to talk with us. Jameson, I think. He was leading that group of Raiders in taking out those bandit camps. Out of all groups, he seemed to know that he was in it. My question is how?" Lilith asked.

"I doubt he bugged the place. Someone could've told him," Mordecai said.

"Perhaps it was mere chance." The Eridian known as The Watcher was standing there. Lilith tensed. It irritated her that he seemed to know everything that was going on, but wasn't doing a single thing to help.

"Are you saying they just happened to run into each other?" Brick asked.

"I doubt that," Mordecai said.

"Perhaps. When the threat of war looms, it does nasty thing to the mind. It turns good people into paranoid ones. Cruel ones. Some human minds simply can't handle the stress. I'm seeing quite a bit of that now," The Watcher said. Its tone had an echo to it, but even then, a slight bit of dryness made its way through.

"If he wants a fight, we'll give him a fight," Mordecai said, his tone serious.

"So far, I'm having a hard time distinguishing who is it that really wants the fight. You've already been through one war. You could possibly avoid this one," The Watcher said.

"There is no way we are going to bend to the will of a corporation that thinks it can do whatever it wants," Lilith said, sounding almost angry.

"In a few years of being revived under this man's command, Atlas is reaching around the same level of wealth that Hyperion was during the early days of E-Tech weaponry. The only thing he truly lacks is a space station to moonshot this city. He's building an army, and he's building weapons to fight whoever he needs to," The Watcher explained. "A corporation is as strong as its resources, and right now, he has a lot of them."

"So what are you suggesting? That we just lay down and die?" Brick asked.

"Like. Hell," Mordecai said.

"The decision you make is your own. That decision will have consequences, whether good or bad. I give you the information you _need_ to know, not the information that you _want_ to know. And I'm sure you _want_ to know exactly what you're dealing with. But the direction this conflict goes is purely up to you. Do try and make a good decision," The Watcher said before disappearing on the spot.

"Did we have to get the most cryptic messenger ever?" Mordecai said, kicking the wall in frustration.

"We've been able to find a few Vault Hunters to get down here, but once he figures out what we're doing, he can offer a lot more than we can to get their attention," Brick said.

"I know. And that's the problem. Not many people would want to join a relatively mediocre resistance when you have the option to join a corporation that's steadily getting wealthier and powerful as the days go by. The only reason the Maya and the others did was because Jack attacked them. They were coming to Pandora for Jack, not us. And it's horrible to think about what might have happened if Jack did recruit them instead of betraying them," Lilith explained in a grim tone.

"This place would've been destroyed before we even got it in the air because Reiss' crew got ambushed by Bloodshots and they had the power core. We would've had to spare soldiers for that. And even they couldn't have gotten the core as fast as a group of skilled Vault Hunters," Mordecai explained. This whole war could've possibly been over or damn near over the day that the Vault Hunters arrived if they were on Jack's side. There wasn't much they could've done at that point but hide.

"It's a tough pill to swallow that we would've been screwed without the other Vault Hunters. And half of them left us to go join him," Brick said.

"We've got a big army of bandits and a few former Lancemen. Very few now that a dozen of them just got killed. He's got a big army of mercenaries that is easily worth the bandits and probably worth the Lancemen. That's not to mention the advanced vehicle Ellie told us about and the Vault Hunters that are on his side. He's making smarter decisions than Jack already," Lilith said, her forehead creasing in stress.

"Very similar to the Jack situation, we are outmanned and outgunned," Mordecai said. "You suppose we find any more Vault Hunters that can turn things around for us?"

"I doubt most of the Vault Hunters or mercenaries in this universe could even compare to Zer0 alone. I guess we'll have to talk," Lilith finally decided, making Brick and Mordecai raise their eyebrows in surprise.

"Talk? With him?" Mordecai questioned, his eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"Do you have a better idea?! I'd love to hear it," Lilith snapped at him. Mordecai sighed. Of course. If there was another option, Lilith would've easily chosen that over this. But there was no other option that didn't lead to them losing. It was hard to fight a corporation. Jack hit them hard even in his absence, and a fight with a company steadily getting more and more powerful as the days went by would be more than a simple army could get them. Even with a few Vault Hunters and ex-Vault Hunters alike. Plus they didn't have Angel backing them with intel either.

"The problem is even getting him to meet us. He doesn't trust us at all. The feeling is mutual, but it's still worth noting," Mordecai said.

"Us asking should be enough. I mean, I doubt he would expect us to contact him at all, so it's enough to make him pay attention at the very least," Lilith said.

"I still can't believe we have to make a deal with a Hyperion," Mordecai said distastefully.

"Hyperion's dead in the water. It's Atlas now, which unfortunately, is pretty powerful," Lilith said. "Basically this is the only option we got if we don't want to get killed. It's hard to win a losing war with less Vault Hunters." Mordecai shook his head before walking out along with Brick. Lilith sighed. These next few days were gonna be a headache.

* * *

A/N: There were a couple of things contributing to the Raiders' victory over Hyperion. Zer0, Salvador, Maya, and Axton(Gaige and Krieg if you wanna count their arrival as canon) arriving on Pandora to help them was a big part of it.

Number two, Angel. To be honest, all of the Vault Hunters could've shot as many Hyperions in the face as much as they wanted to. Without Angel, they wouldn't have known where the Vault Key was, and they certainly wouldn't have known how to get to it. Angel was the one who let them know where to get the Claptrap upgrade and voice modulator. If they didn't have her help, they would've literally had no idea what to do next. Even if they did, they wouldn't have known how to go about it and Jack would've awaken the Warrior by the time they did.

So ultimately, without those two things, the Raiders would've always been on the backfoot. Eventually, they would've been overwhelmed and killed. So if were to take Gaige, Zer0, and Axton away while going against another powerful corporation, defeat would almost be certain. At the very least, I would like to think Lilith would be smart enough to figure that out. That is, if her pride for fighting for Hyperion didn't get the best of her. I have no faith in Mordecai being able to do the same thing.


	24. Chapter 24 - Invasion

A/N: As I've discovered, it's not easy to work and write more consistently. At least when you work the hours I do. So if anyone wonders why I don't really update my stories, it's because most days of the week, I'm working about half the day. Only reason I was able to update my Intermission story as often as I did was because I already had those chapters completed. I just had to edit them.

* * *

"Aw, hell no. HELL no. No way are you going there," Gaige said.

"I'm more interested as to why they extended the invitation in the first place," Moxxi said with a frown.

"Who cares? I doubt it's to exchange stories over tea and crumpets. It's a horrible idea to go," Gaige said.

"I'm not sure. I mean, why would they even extend the invitation in the first place? They seemed to be content with just leaving you alone," Moxxi said, making him frown. The message was sent over the ECHO, and that's how they ended up hearing about it.

"I'll go, but not directly," Rhys said before getting over the ECHO. "Reaper."

 _"What do you need?"_ the soldier asked.

"Meet in front of my office," Rhys said before shutting off the call and walking outside of his office. It didn't take long for Reaper to arrive. Even if it looked like he seemed to have been walking slow.

"What's the situation?" Reaper asked.

"Apparently, our enemies have called a meeting. But given how I don't trust them as far as I could throw them, it'll be safer to send a few soldiers in my stead," Rhys said.

"Should we send some of our best soldiers? We could launch a big assault and take them out," Reaper suggested.

"No. Not until we know what they're up to. They could tell us something and it wouldn't hear it if we attack. At times, people often give away things they don't mean to," Rhys said before handing him a small disk. "Just bring that and they'll be able to communicate with me that way. It's untraceable, so they won't be able to track the signal back here."

"Noted. Where's the location?" Reaper asked.

"The Holy Spirits in Overlook. Get there, scope out the situation, find out whatever you can," Rhys said.

"And if they attack us?" Reaper questioned.

"Get away, kill them if you can. Up to you. Be warned. They aren't lightweights, and one of them is a Siren," Rhys warned him.

"It'd be nice to add one of them to the kill count. But I'll play nice if they will. Your orders," Reaper said before walking out. Rhys walked back to his desk silently, and both women in the room noticed that his forehead creased with apprehension. He didn't show it as obvious as others, but he was worried.

"Wondering what's going to happen?" Gaige asked.

"Yeah. This could be the very thing that could push us into war. I don't want to do it, but if they push us, we'll fight it out. And once I start, I don't think I'm going to let any of them live. Not one," Rhys said, cracking the knuckles in his human hand by flexing the fingers hard enough.

"What about Sanctuary?" Gaige asked, looking hesitant given the way he said that last sentence.

"Anyone who isn't pointing a gun in my direction will stay alive. But I'm not going to bother playing nice with everyone else. They want war? I'll give it to them."

* * *

"He's not going to show. I'm telling you he's not dumb enough to show," Mordecai said. "This was a waste of time."

"Oh, well that all depends on what you do," Reaper said, his assault rifle hanging on his back with a dozen of his men behind him. Brick was ready to charge while Mordecai drew a revolver in the blink of an eye. "Easy, you Truixcan wrestler looking bastard. I'm not gonna shoot you if you don't shoot at me. The boss sent us instead of coming himself."

"Lilith asked for him specifically," Mordecai said.

"And I don't see her here," Reaper retorted. "I assume you have a way for him to talk to her. Because we've got one." Mordecai eyed the soldier, who looked backed at him unflinchingly. Mordecai then placed an ECHO on the table while Reaper placed Rhys' transmitter on the table, the leader of Atlas appearing sitting in his chair while looking relaxed. He wasn't going to show weakness in front of these guys. He had to look like the one in charge.

 _"Is he here?"_ Lilith asked.

 _"Not in the flesh, but I am here. But by the look of things, neither are you,"_ Rhys said.

 _"You... I suppose that's a fair point,"_ Lilith reluctantly said.

 _"Of course it is. Now what is it that you want?"_ Rhys asked.

 _"You're making it really hard to get along with you, you know that?"_ Lilith said in an irritated tone.

 _"Oh, of course. Where are my manners. Hi Lilith. How are you today?"_ Rhys asked in a tone that almost sounded genuine. Almost.

 _"Let's just get to the point. Just what do you plan on doing here on Pandora?"_ Lilith asked.

 _"If you think I have ambitions to do what Jack did and take over Pandora, then I have to say you are horribly misinformed. It's not that I'm not prepared to do such a thing. No, I have the weapons and I have the army. I could've launched an simultaneous attack on each of your bases and torn apart what setups you had all at once. After all, that's how a smart leader would handle an attack on an unaware enemy. Take out a majority of your forces, and dealing with the rest of you by the time you realize what's happening would be child's play not counting the Vault Hunters,"_ Rhys explained, saying the entire battle tactic with barely so much as a few blinks. No Raider liked the fact that he seemed to have thought about this quite extensively. And the worse part is that it might have worked.

"Most of those attacks would have failed," Mordecai retorted.

"Not on our watch. Only Vault Hunters and Crimson Lancemen would have even given us a challenge, but that's not all that your army consists of as much as you would like it to. The rest are untrained bandits that defected to your side. Those wouldn't even pose a challenge to us," Reaper said coolly. Mordecai eyed him and Reaper eyed him right back with a look sharp enough to cut poly-kryten. This was definitely no run of the mill soldier. He had _that_ kind of look. The kind of look that let you know he's killed plenty of people with little to no problem.

 _"The point is that I had all the resources to attack you, but I didn't. It means something,"_ Rhys said.

 _"Perhaps. But you seemed to have thought about this pretty well,"_ Lilith questioned, sounding suspicious.

 _"I'd be stupid if I ignored the possibility of an attack. And regardless of whether or not I want a fight, if you attacked me, I was prepared to make you regret it,"_ Rhys said.

"Is that a threat?" Mordecai asked, his tone having an edge to it in an instant.

 _"Let's call it a hypothetical promise. Seeing as how that outcome hasn't happened,"_ Rhys said evenly.

 _"You claim you've got nothing to hide. Then what's with some vehicle that's locked behind an encryption?"_ Lilith questioned in an accusing fashion.

 _"I don't know where you got the idea that I had nothing to hide. Because I've got plenty to keep secret. Not just from you. And they're all ways to make money, which is what every corporation is out to do. No different from Maliwan, Jakobs, or Dahl."_ A distinct bitterness sprung up when he mentioned Dahl, and it showed on his face too. He could tell. _"Anyway, I don't suppose you're here to make peace. You just want info."_

 _"More like a rather... hesitant partnership,"_ Lilith said, making Rhys raise his eyebrows.

 _"You're looking to partner up?"_ he questioned.

 _"It would be preferred than another war,"_ Lilith said, swallowing the indignant bit of pride that was swelling up within her.

 _"Not what I expected,"_ Rhys said evenly.

 _"Just know that I don't completely trust your motives,"_ Lilith said.

 _"Right back at you Siren. Granted, I have more reason not to trust you than you have to not to trust me, but that's neither here nor there. Let's just start off by saying we're both pieces of shit trying to cooperate with each other. That way we're on even ground,"_ Rhys said evenly.

 _"I'm not a fan of..."_ A loud boom resounded from outside of the building, but it didn't sound like something that that was on a small level scale. No, this seemed more like something that shook the entire ground.

"What even was that? The whole ground shook!" Reaper exclaimed, pointing his weapon toward the doorway of the bar.

 _"I could feel it from here! What is going on?!"_ Rhys exclaimed before the communicator shut off. By the sound of things, ECHO communication was down at Old Haven too. Reaper knew that cutting off communications was the sign of some sort of an attack. But who was making the attack?

"Atlas? Shit," Reaper said before arming his gun and slowly opening the door. The Raiders, who didn't seem to know what was going on either, followed their lead and waited for an attack. But as soon as Reaper opened the door, an energy blast flew past his face and burned a hole into the wall behind him followed by a strange ominous sounding screech. What caused it was a creature with a some distorted head, holding a weapon that looks like it was as ancient as anything, but was able to fire off pure energy. Mordecai and Brick recognized the creatures immediately.

"Those are Eridians. What are they doing here?" Mordecai questioned.

"I think we might wanna shoot first and ask questions later," Reaper said, unloading some bullets from his mag into the Eridians face. But the natural shields they were equipped with took the bullets with little problem before the Eridians that were next to and behind it began to advance while firing off energy shots that were powerful enough to burn the building around them. The Zadfords around them were also taking up positions while they were hearing the gunfire. Moving from this position wasn't great, but it was better than going outside where there was no cover.

But that problem was solved by the ENTIRE WALL on the right side of them being disintegrated, taking several Zadfords along with it that were posted against that wall. Now the Eridians were approaching for this side. Even Brick didn't like his odds about being hit with these kind of rounds. Bullets he could eat for breakfast. But these looked like they would incinerate him on the spot. He'd need to get close to deal with them.

"Those shields are not lightweight. You're gonna have to put a lot of rounds in those things!" Mordecai yelled, reloading the mag of his revolver before swapping to his sniper. Reaper sighed and shook his head. Why did he get the feeling that this was going to be his craziest job yet? Which was saying something.

* * *

"Get those shields back up!" Rhys yelled to a soldier. "Gaige, you go with them to help with it!"

"Got it! Have you been able to raise the soldiers we sent?" she asked.

"No. It looks like long range communication is down over the ECHOs. We're going to have to fix that," Rhys said before fanning an entire mag of an electric revolver into an Eridian's face to take it out. He quickly discovered that these things had powerful shields. This revolver was powerful, and it took almost the entire mag to get rid of the shield and the last bullet to kill it. But beyond the shield, they were about as tough as the inside of a stalker.

"First things first, let's get things handled here," Gaige said before leading several soldiers down to the shield generator.

Ducking an Eridian taking a swipe at him from his back, he charged his metal hand with electricity to lower the shield before giving a pull and taking the head off. So much for avoiding a fight. Well, it didn't seem to be against the Raiders, so that was something. It just looked like the guardians of the Vault No big deal. (Sarcasm)

He knew for a fact some of the Eridians advanced past him, so he immediately darted towards the bar to go find Moxxi. It looked like she was posted up behind the counter if the sound of Maliwan gunfire was any indication.

He stuck his blade in the back of one of the three Eridians that were in the bar and pulling it upwards to cut the thing in half from the stomach up before beheading the other two swiftly. Moxxi then rose up while reloading her mag.

"What kept you?" Moxxi questioned with a grin. But her grin disappeared when she saw that Rhys couldn't find even slight amusement considering the situation.

"You ok?" he asked in concern.

"I'm fine. Though we lost a lot of alcohol," Moxxi said, pointing behind her.

"That can be replaced. You can't," Rhys said before turning to survey the area behind her. That statement made Moxxi smile, despite the situation. "They seemed to have sent a lot of Eridians here."

"Eridians never did things in small portions. What do you think is going on?" Moxxi asked.

"Wish I knew," Rhys said, helping Moxxi over the counter. "But it's not just us getting invaded. If the lack of communication and the ships up in the sky are any indicator," Rhys said, pointing to the sky as soon as they got outside. Sure enough, it looked like something out of an apocalypse movie with the amount of ships that were coming down. If it made any sense, Eridian technology looked ancient, yet futuristic in its own little way.

"I'm just glad Gaige tossed me Rubi before they got here. Probably would've had to hide in the passageway if that was the case," Moxxi said.

"That would've worried me less, but at least you're alive," Rhys said before moving Moxxi to the side along with him before revealing himself and firing off several revolver shots. Moxxi did the same, and his shield was broken rather quickly before he fell to the last bullet. Then Moxxi found something placed in her hand.

"You need a shield," Rhys said simply.

"How many of these things are around this place?" Moxxi asked.

"From what I understand, there are a couple dozen. So it shouldn't take long for the attack to be repelled at the very least," Rhys said.

"You are quite correct. It is already done with," Zer0 said, popping in front of the two.

"Already?" Rhys questioned.

"Between the number of soldiers and Vault Hunters here, yes. The assault did not last long," Zer0 said before pointing up to the ships. "What do you suppose we do about that?"

"First we need to get the ECHO comms back up. They managed to take them down with some kind of jamming signal. It's likely on one of the ships up there," Rhys said as Gaige, Axton, and other soldiers started to approach him.

"So we need to get the signal taken out. After that, what do you suppose we do?" one of the soldiers asked.

"As much as I am reluctant to do it, we need to get in contact with the Raiders," Rhys said, making everyone look at him with wide eyes.

"You're not serious, right?" Gaige asked.

"Unfortunately, I am. This is one of those 'enemy of my enemy' situations," Rhys said.

"We don't need them. With all that we have, we can do anything we want. And with the Eridians distracting them, we're free to do whatever we want," one of the soldiers said.

"We're here to be settlers, not tyrants. We aren't Hyperion, and nor are we going to be. Even I loathe the idea, but we're going to have to play nice with people who were one step away from becoming our enemies," Rhys said as he looked to the sky. "Guess this is that war we were told about. Makes sense that he would know about it. He is an Eridian, after all."

"Should've known it was only a matter of time before we headed into the next great adventure, huh?" Gaige said, making Rhys smile despite himself. Yeah, that was unfortunately true.

* * *

A/N: I could take this one or two ways. I can continue all the way down to the end of this war or I can end Flesh and Metal here and follow up with a sequel completely focused on the war. Up to you. Doesn't matter too much to me. It all depends on if you want to divide the story lines. And hopefully, it won't take me months on top of months to get the next chapter up. Working is no joke though.

P.S: This is how I imagine Borderlands 3's story line is going to be. I thought it would be awesome it was a universe wide invasion by the Eridians and you get to travel to different planets and shit. That would be awesome.


	25. Chapter 25 - It's Time For War!

"Yup! We definitely got a problem!" Rhys exclaimed as he dodged an energy blast. The entire ECHO network was down because the whole place was swarmed with Eridians. He was forced to fall back mostly using the laser on his arm as well as his sword to take these things down. The others were worse off.

"No shit, Sherlock!" Gaige exclaimed as she used a shock assault rifle to drain the Eridian's shield. Gratefully, these things were soft underneath their ungodly tough shields. It was a good thing she found this. None of them could access the inventory on their ECHOs.

"How many of these things are there?" Axton said as he filled an Eridian Guardian's face full of holes. Even though he was shielded, he did not like how close those energy blades of theirs was to him moments ago.

"My guess? A lot," Gaige said, ducking more blasts and firing off bullets in return. Her ammo was very limited, so Deathtrap was doing most of the killing for her.

"That's specific," Zer0 said idly as he locked blades with an Eridian Guardian before swiftly removing the limb from the shoulder down before impaling it in its thin midsection and then slicing upward to finish it off.

After a while, the Eridians seemed to keep coming with no end in sight. They all somehow knew that the ECHO network was their main way of communicating around here, so they wanted to keep that down. That had to have been why they were hitting this place this hard.

"Gracious me. There's way too fucking many," Rhys said, using his shield to block some of the energy rounds heading his way. But then a vehicle was driven in front of his face, and it wasn't a Technical, nor was it a Runner.

"Then let us cut in," Reaper said as he armed the cannons on the vehicle. Rhys expected his design to be used for the Raiders, not an army of Eridians.

"How'd you find us?" Rhys asked.

"Not hard, given the state of the ECHO network," Reaper said simply. "It's a good thing you made these things to be fast. It would've taken a lot longer to get here otherwise."

"Nice job showing up when you did," Gaige said gratefully as the other soldiers began pulling in with cars of a similar nature and blasting the remaining Eridians to pieces. "I was almost out of ammo there."

"It's our job. From what I've seen, every inch of Pandora has come under attack by these things," Reaper told her.

"More than anything, we need to get the ECHO network back up. We need to communicate with the rest our forces and group up," Rhys said, pointing to several soldiers. "You, you, and you. Follow me while I get the network back online. The rest of you need to meet us on the other side, where the rest of the towets are. Kill any Eridians on the way. Blast them out of the sky if needed."

"Yes sir," several soldiers said. Gaige was impressed by how quickly and easily he was able to take charge. It seemed like he was trying to get the most out of his soldiers.

Rhys walked into the building, and luckily, there were very few Eridians hiding inside. Most of the action took place on the outside, and they had won that fight, so thats probably why.

"Can you fix it?" one of the soldiers asked as Rhys was looking over the console.

"Easily. But that's not the problem. This thing is rigged to blow," Rhys said as he finished looking over it.

"What?" a different soldier questioned. Rhys then stood up straight and pointed to the cylinder shaped device located on the bottom of the side of the console.

"See that thing right there? From the look of things, it's got a bunch of energy compressed on the inside. And there's some kind of alien language that keeps changing. I can only assume it's a countdown as I don't know their language. This isn't a location they need to keep standing. If anything, they can only benefit by destroying it," Rhys explained to him.

"So disarm the bomb," the third soldier suggested.

"Even if I knew how to decipher this language in order to do that, I doubt it would be that easy. It'd probably detonate upon tamper. These Eridians are an advanced alien species. I'm not going to treat them like they're idiots," Rhys said before opening up the panel at the bottom. "But there's still a way to get the ECHO network back online."

"The way the system works is that it takes the ECHO signal and bounces it between three powerful towers within this area and controlled by this one big console. It's how all of Pandora gets access to the network. It's going to be a long few weeks building the towers capable of supporting that kind of power."

"Weeks?" the first soldier questioned, his eyebrows raised in shock.

"At the very least. That's if we get just about every available worker to Old Haven to work on it. But there's a problem with that," Rhys said.

"We've got no way to contact them because the network is down," the second soldier said.

"Right. And no ECHO network means not only no communication, but no Fast Travel either. No one can access their ECHO inventories either. None of my tracking, seeking, or scanning capabilities on my cybernetics work either. Only the weaponry cause it's built into the arm," Rhys told him.

"Did we really rely that much on this one system in the hopes that no one would try and destroy it?" the third soldier questioned.

"Long ago, there was a big project to help set up the ECHO network on Pandora. Most of the crew was killed off as a result, but they got the system working. People knew that if they destroyed it, there would be no more workers coming to this planet to build us another one. Companies hate wasting worker hands. It's the closest thing to a truce Pandora has ever had to not destroy the machine," the first soldier explained.

"Because they knew if they messed with this thing, they'd all be in the dark," Rhys said as he continued to examine the inside of the device.

"People have tried, of course, to destroy it. Idiots and psychos _are_ a thing on this planet. But their attempts were thwarted each time. They got slaughtered and tortured by bandits for even trying," the first soldier said.

"No one's going to stand for the loss of the ECHO network. And neither will I, for that matter," Rhys said, keeping the cores of the ECHO in his pocket since his ECHO storage was unavailable. "That was just the main console powered by three of the cores with the signal. There are still three smaller ones connected to radio towers."

"We're going to have to split up. We need to get that network back up as fast as possible. We are blind if we do," the second soldier said.

"Agreed. We'll divide ourselves into groups," Rhys said right as the beeping of the device on the console intensified. "That's our cue to leave."

Immediately, the four of them broke out broke out into a large sprint from the building that was once the Crimson Fastness. Now it's just a place where the ECHO network was at. It was never really given a name after the predecessors of Atlas were done here.

Behind them, there was a loud ominous whirring before there was a feeling of suction which was immediately negated by the entire building behind them exploding in a flash of shiny purple. The four of them were thrown forward, but Rhys was the only able to recover from it by flipping to his feet using the momentum of the explosion.

"Nice save," Gaige said.

"Thanks," Rhys said.

"We're fine," the third soldier said, standing to his feet.

"So I'm guess we can't get the ECHO network back?" Gaige questioned.

"No we will. We just gotta get the rest of these things from those other radio towers," Rhys said, taking a core out of his pocket and showing them.

"There are three of those towers. We'll have to split up if we want to get this done in a reasonable amount of time," Axton said.

"Agreed. We'll divide the teams evenly," Rhys said.

"Well, you'll have to count us in for that," Lilith said as she suddenly appeared in front of them in a flash of purple, Mordecai and Brick next to her. Immediately, everyone who wasn't Rhys aimed a gun at her. Even the giant cannons on the car tanks were aimed. But even as both parties armed themselves for a fight, Rhys raised a hand for them to lower their guns.

"Boss, you can't be..."

"I am," Rhys said with no emotion as he looked at Lilith. "Extenuating circumstances?"

"Extenuating circumstances," she agreed with a nod. "How do you plan to get the network back up?"

"If I can get access to the cores, my workers can make radio towers strong enough to cover all of Pandora. It'll take weeks, and I need to get them all to Old Haven," Rhys told her.

 _"Old Haven? That's where he was hiding?"_ Lilith thought before nodding and then speaking aloud. "There were three small towers and a big..." It was then she spotted the lack of a building.

"How in the..." Mordecai trailed.

"Eridians knew about it and tried to blow it sky high. I got the cores though out of it though. All that needs to be done is getting the cores for the other ones. We need all the power we can get for those towers," Rhys said.

"Why power the entire planet? Why not just the area we need?" Mordecai questioned. Rhys was surprised that the question came out evenly.

"Because I doubt the Eridians are just attacking this area. This looks like a full on invasion, and if we're going to clear them all out, we're going to need ECHO access across every inch of this planet so we aren't limited weapon wise. You want to clear them off Pandora, right?" Rhys questioned.

"Probably more than you do," Mordecai said.

"That's debatable, but we'll agree to disagree. Now, we can divide ourselves into teams. Siren, you can take your friends and a few of my soldiers with you to the network. They know how to drive the vehicles, so they'll be able to get you there fast," Rhys told Lilith.

"You sure they won't try and shoot us?" Mordecai questioned, narrowing his eyes at the soldiers who returned the look.

"They won't as long as you won't," Rhys said, looking at both Mordecai and his soldiers with an icy look. His troops seemed to calm down, but Mordecai didn't.

"Mordecai, give it a rest," Lilith said through gritted teeth. She looked very irritated.

"She's right. We're not going to get this done with you eyeing the soldiers every two seconds," Brick told him. After a few seconds, Mordecai nodded. As much as he didn't like it, they were their best chance of taking Pandora back from these Eridians. But the idea of Eridians in this area... it brought back some memories.

"Alright, now Gaige and Zer0, you're on me. The each of us will take a vehicle. Axton, you lead the rest of the soldiers," Rhys said, making the soldier nod. Then he raised a core. "Remember, scavenge the main computer until you find one of these things. If you see more than one, which I doubt you will, grab it too."

"We'll head this way. Let's meet back here once we're finished," Lilith said, making Rhys nod. The soldiers then gestured Lilith over to the back of one off the tanks, where there were four seats in the back. But the size of Brick took up two of them all at once. And he could barely fit in those.

"You two, on me," Rhys said, pointing to Gaige and Zer0. He had a look of seriousness in his eyes. "Take a vehicle and let's get going."

 _"Not gonna lie. Looks pretty hot when he's taking charge,"_ Gaige thought before smothering her own embarrassment by immediately hopping in the tank. _"Well, I certainly know how to prioritize situations."_

The three groups then split off to go take care of their towers. There was a barrier in the way of each of the directions, but to the surprise of Lilith, Mordecai, and Brick, the vehicles were able to blow right through the barriers that blocked the way like they were made of wet clay. Their Runners hadn't been able to do that.

 _"No wonder he kept these things hidden,"_ Lilith thought. The outside of these tank-like cars was tougher than the weaponry of any of their vehicles' weapons. Lilith was brought out of her analysis by the driver's voice.

"If you want to have a piece of the things, feel free to hop out. But these tanks should be able to handle them," he said.

Any trace of the outside was not visible other than a small hole in front of them. And even if there was any visibility behind them, it was practically impossible to turn around.

"Aim for that cannon!" the second soldier up front said before remembering that they had no way to contact each other because of the lack of ECHO communication. Then there was a loud boom that shook the ground.

"What the hell was that?!" Mordecai exclaimed.

"They've got some cannons! They're powerful as hell. I've never seen anything tear through these hulls until now!" the driver exclaimed. "Siren, you can teleport. Get behind those lines and get rid of those cannons, or we're all going to be smoking piles of scrap in a second!" It wasn't an order. The soldier just stated a blatant fact.

"Duly noted," Lilith said somewhat dryly before teleporting herself, Mordecai, and Brick behind the lines. Sure enough, there were two cannons lined up at the entrance, taking shots at each of the tanks. But they weren't great shots. That or the soldiers had decent enough evasive tactics.

"Coming through!" Brick exclaimed before grabbing the head of one of the Eridians behind the cannon and bashing its head against the wall several times hard enough to break its shield and its head along with it. Lilith grabbed the head of the second Eridian and channeled a bunch of energy into it, breaking down its shield before it disintegrated into nothingness.

"Let's check these buildings," Lilith said before they walked inside. They could hear the rumbling from in here, which wasn't much of a surprise, so they knew they had to act fast. Before they accidentally crumbled the building with them and the core inside of it. None of them would be surprised if it did happen.

Mordecai ducked a blade swipe from an Eridian Guardian and then unloading his revolver into its face, which barely managed to take down its shield.

With no ammo because he couldmt get more out of ECHO, Mordecai drew his sword from his back and stuck it in the Eridian's skull and dug around before taking its head off with a hard pull. It's been a long time since he bothered using this blade.

"Keep moving," Lilith said as they continued up to the roof. Up there, like Lilith suspected, there were more Eridian cannons up top, taking shots at the vehicles from the bottom. Lilith, with her eyes glowing orange, Phasewalked into the center of each of the turrets before letting out a wide plume of fire, knocking the Eridians and their turrets off the roof. They were easy pickings for the rest of the tanks at that point.

"Good. Now let's grab what we came for," Brick said before they walked back in the building. Lilith was the one to check the bottom for the core before grabbing it and holding it up.

"Let's get back to the center. That was over fairly quick," Lilith said before walking out of the building. There were no more words that needed to be traded for the rest of the short trip back.

* * *

"How'd it go?" Rhys asked.

"We lost four tanks, which means eight men. Whatever they use for those power of those cannons, they're powerful," the driver that was partnered with Lilith said.

"Yeah, we had to deal with those things too. We had to dodge like crazy to avoid being incinerated," Gaige said.

"The Eridians didn't have this tech the last time they were here. What's the deal?" Mordecai questioned.

"Those were just the Vaults that just had Eridians inside. So their numbers and tech were limited. We're dealing with invasion forces here," Lilith clarified.

"That sounds about right. Well, that Eridian that came here was right. Looks like we're heading to war," Rhys said.

"Just not with who we expected," Mordecai said making Rhys nod grimly. "Anyway, we got the cores. Now we just need to head back to Old Haven." It was here Rhys' eyes widened.

"Old... Oh, fucking hell. I didn't account for it getting invaded," he said, his eyes wide and his eyes betraying a small bit of fear.

"If they did get there, you're not going to have any resources to build those towers with," Lilith said.

"It's not just that. The soldiers there are more than likely unprepared. Those turrets I built won't help much against the weaponry they're carrying now," Rhys said, clenching his left fist.

"Enough talking. Let's just go," Reaper said impatiently before they hopped in the cars and sped off.

 _"You better be alive Moxxi,"_ Rhys thought with a growl.

* * *

 _"Jeez, it feels like we've been waiting down here forever,"_ Moxxi thought as she looked around at the many soldiers scattered in her lab. Whatever the Eridians that invaded this place did, they did it well. They took down the shields of the city and laid waste to many of the soldiers that were here. There weren't that many left now. Except the handful that managed to escape down here with her.

That doesn't mean they went down easy. No, many were missing limbs and still able to take a few down. But the numbers were so vast and the weaponry so powerful was that there was little chance of survival. Moxxi had to respect how strong, determined, and well trained they all were.

 _"The one time he isn't shut up in his lab working on stuff. The_ one _time. Where the hell are all of you?"_ Moxxi thought with some level of frustration.

Time passed by. Enough time to where minutes felt like hours. Because everyone down here was waiting tensely for the Eridians to come in here and do to them what they did to the rest of the soldiers with were either disintegrated or torn apart. The waiting was over when the hatch finally opened. But in walked a familiar face.

"Oh, thank God. Are you alright?" Rhys asked as he walked forward and inspected her for wounds.

"I'm fine. As you've told me many times before," Moxxi said with a sultry smirk, making Rhys crack a small smile.

"Yup, you're alright. Come on. There have been some... extenuating circumstances," he said as he we went to walk back up to the bar area. Which, by the way, was completely trashed. Just like the rest of the city.

While Moxxi was glad to be alive unlike many of the soldiers that were posted here, she couldn't help but be somewhat put out by the waste of alcohol. But that feeling was squashed by the feeling of anger when she saw a familiar mask.

"Rhys?" Moxxi questioned in a voice of deadly calm.

"Yes?" Rhys asked.

"Why are the Raiders here?" Moxxi questioned.

"Extenuating circumstances. I told you. Besides, weren't you once a Raider?" Rhys asked.

"When they weren't completely biased," Moxxi said, eyeing Mordecai in particular. Without breaking eye contact with Mordecai, she put a hand down Rhys' back pocket. She was pleased to see that his eyes narrowed. She wasn't pleased with Rhys removing her hand.

"You two can argue like cats and dogs at another time. Right now, I need your help. We're short some workers here, so I need your help in building radio towers large enough to cover Pandora. You'll head the designs while we round up workers from our bases," Rhys explained to her.

"Then I'll get to work," Moxxi said. With one final glare at Mordecai, she walked off back towards her lab.

"Do you have any other ideas? The Eridians are likely taking over," Lilith said.

"Without the ECHO network, we are blind. We'll mostly have to wait, but we can take potshots at them every now and again. We have to play this carefully, or we will fall to this invasion," Rhys said.

"Never would've thought you as a capable leader," Lilith said.

"That's what happens when you don't actually know someone. But regardless, we have a war to win. Regardless of what happens after it's over, we will have to trust each other until then," Rhys said before swallowing slightly and holding out his hand. Lilith seemed to do something similar before holding out her hand and shaking it. Gaige looked at the pair shaking hands before looking at the sky. She was not looking forward to another war. Then again, none of them were.

* * *

A/N: And that concludes it for Flesh and Metal! For those who say I took it too hard on Mordecai and not enough on Rhys, let's look over things. Besides living at Sanctuary and working for Hyperion at one point, what has Rhys done to make any problems his fault? None that I can think of.

As for Mordecai, it was not my intention to constantly have a go at him like I did. I actually like Mordecai a lot. But I feel like out of everyone, he wouldn't be able to look too far past his prejudice of Hyperion. I have plans to work with that for the sequel. It might be a long while before I start it, but it will happen.

On a separate note, all of you are fucking awesome with the support. I made something that over a hundred people enjoy reading. That's an accomplishment for, and I'm glad I was able to make this entertaining for you all. Have a great day.


End file.
